Do you need patent registration advisors in Colombia and don’t know who to turn to?

At TM TAMAYO we have more than 30 years of experience in the national and international market and a group of expert professionals in patent registration who can provide you with the legal representation that you and your company need.

Our patent team is made up of a group of interdisciplinary professionals, specialized in scientific and legal advice on patent management.

including from the drafting of high-quality patent applications in any area of technology, to the advancement of litigation in matters of infringement and nullity before the competent authorities.

E-mail: info@tmtamayo.com

Once the patent registration application is filed with the Colombian Patent and Trademark Office, the granting process begins, which must comply with the following stages:

1. Form examination:

The application that was submitted to the Colombian Patent and Trademark Office undergoes a formal examination within a term of 30 business days in order to verify if it meets the formal requirements, such as:

1. a) Form or request with all the data of the inventor and applicant.
2. b) the description;
3. c) one or more claims;
4. d) one or more drawings, when necessary to understand the invention,
5. e) the abstract;
6. f) the powers that were necessary;
7. g) proof of payment;
8. h) When applicable: Assignment, license for the use of traditional knowledge in accordance with the provisions of Decision 391 of the CAN or contract for access to genetic resources.

In the event that the application does not meet the requirements provided by law, the Colombian Patent and Trademark Office will require the interested party to complete or correct the application within a period of 2 months. If the interested party does not complete or correct the patent application, it will be considered abandoned. If, on the contrary, the application fully meets all the requirements, it goes to the next stage.

2. Publication and oppositions:

This stage seeks to publicize the patent applications that have been filed with the Colombian Patent and Trademark Office so that people are aware of the new inventions that they want to protect so that they can present their oppositions. At this stage, the applicant must be aware of answering any oppositions that may be presented.

3. Application or request for patentability examination:

Within the following 6 months from the date of publication, the interested party must request that his application be examined, to determine if the invention is patentable or not. If you do not carry out the request for such examination, the request is considered ABANDONED.

4. Substantive or patentability examination:

Through this, the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce (SIC) verifies whether or not the invention that is the subject of the application complies with the patentability requirements in order to determine whether the patent is granted or denied.

E-mail: info@tmtamayo.com

Inventions can be protected by means of patents, which are filed by the interested parties before the Trademark and Patent Office of the place where they are located; in the case of Colombia, they are filed with the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce (SIC).

Before submitting the application for protection of an invention through a patent, the interested party is recommended to consult the state of the art of his invention so that he can identify if it meets the patentability requirements:

1. That they be new
2. That they have an inventive level
3. That they are capable of industrial application.

If the invention that is intended to be protected by patent does not meet the requirements set forth herein, it will be declared unfeasible.

E-mail: info@tmtamayo.com

A patent is an innovation protection measure that must be requested when seeking to protect intellectual property through a property title that is granted to the owner of the invention as a product of his creative work in order for him to have exclusive right to the economic exploitation of your creation for a certain time, thus preventing third parties from using it for commercial purposes without your prior consent.

In order for an invention to be protected through a patent, it must meet 3 basic requirements, which are:

1. Novelty of the invention
2. Inventive step
3. Industrial use

When the inventive project meets these three requirements, the person interested in carrying out the application must draft the patent document taking into account the following parameters:

1. A clear and complete explanation of the invention must be written.
2. Some Claims must be drawn up, through these, the innovative technical characteristics of the invention are known, for which legal protection is claimed through the Patent.
3. Drawings of the invention are presented
4. A summary is written in which the most relevant information of the invention is disclosed quickly and clearly.

Once the steps described above have been carried out, the owner of the invention may request the registration of the patent before the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce (SIC) electronically or physically, and must provide the following documents at the time of filing :

1. Petition: it is the form through which the identification data of the invention object of registration and of the owner, the inventor (when it was not the same applicant) and the legal representative in the case of having one are presented.
2. Abstract of the patent.
3. Description of the invention.
4. The claims.
5. Figures or examples.
6. Proof of payment of the fee established by the Colombian Patent and Trademark Office
7. In the cases in which the owner of the invention carries out the patent registration application process through a proxy, the power of attorney granted to the latter must be presented.
8. If the request is made by a company, it is not necessary to provide the certificate of existence and legal representation of the requesting legal entity. The Colombian Patent and Trademark Office may consult the public records of the Certificates of Existence and Representation in the Chamber of Commerce.
9. Copy of the assignment contract or the contract by virtue of which the assignment is presumed when the applicant is not the inventor, for example: service or work contract.

Once these requirements have been met, the patent registration application is filed with the Colombian Patent and Trademark Office and the process to obtain the patent begins, which consists of 4 stages that are

4. Form examination

At this stage, it is analyzed whether the application that was submitted meets the formal requirements imposed by law (Decision 486 of 2000, Article 26 and 27).

5. Publication and oppositions

This stage seeks to publicize the patent applications that have been filed with the Colombian Patent and Trademark Office so that people are aware of the new inventions that they want to protect so that they can present their oppositions.

6. Application for patentability examination

Within the following 6 months from the date of publication, the interested party must request that his application be examined, to determine if the invention is patentable or not.

7. Patentability examination

Through this, the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce (SIC) verifies whether or not the invention that is the subject of the application complies with the patentability requirements in order to determine whether the patent is granted or denied.

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The registration of a trademark in Colombia not only gives the holder the right of exclusivity over it, it also gives him the possibility of preventing the use of a distinctive sign similar to his own, to distinguish products or services similar to those he promotes, when such use causes confusion or risk of association among the consuming public.

In this sense, if a person uses a trademark in the market without the authorization of its owner, they will incur a trademark infringement, and it will be necessary for the affected owner to file a lawsuit for usurpation of the trademark to request compensation for damages, as described stated in article 238 of Decision 482 of 2000 that provides:

“The holder of a right protected by virtue of this Decision may bring an action before the competent national authority against any person who infringes his right. He may also act against whoever performs acts that show the imminence of an infraction.

If the internal legislation of the Member Country allows it, the competent national authority may initiate, ex officio, the actions for infringement provided for in said legislation.

In the case of co-ownership of a right, any of the co-owners may bring an action against an infringement without the need for the consent of the others, unless otherwise agreed between the co-owners.”

On the other hand, the applicable regulations in criminal matters expressly state in its article 306 that the person who fraudulently uses a legally protected trademark will be imprisoned for 4 to 8 years and a fine of 26.66 to 1,500 current legal monthly minimum wages.

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Before answering the question of how to protect a logo in Colombia, it must be remembered that a logo is “a symbol made up of words, images and colors that is used to identify a brand or product”.

In accordance with the foregoing and from the trademark point of view, when a logo is created to differentiate products and/or services within the market, the interested party can protect it by registering the trademark before the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce.

E-mail: info@tmtamayo.com