A trademark is a distinctive sign, symbol or expression used to identify the products or services of a company from those of another. It guarantees the genuineness of the product of service, and gives its holder the legal rights to avoid their trademark’s unauthorized use.

  • It is the only way of obtaining rights to the trademark.
  • It provides national and/or local protection.
  • It allows to demonstrate ownership of the trademark.
  • It helps to discourage other people from using the trademark unlawfully.
  • Trademarks allow your business to effectively utilize the social media and make your customers find you easily.
  • If anyone uses your registered trademark, he/she will be presumed to be a willful infringer, and registering a trademark confers the ability to recover monetary damages as a result of the infringement.
  • If you don’t register your trademark and someone else registers a trademark very similar to yours, you’ll have to change its name and spend a lot of money changing advertising. It’s also possible that you lose customers.
  • Words
  • Names
  • Devices
  • Certain three-dimensional shapes
  • Colors
  • Slogans
  • Sounds

Trademark protection in Costa Rica lasts 10 years from the registration date and can be renewed indefinitely every 10 years. A renewal application must be filed within one year before expiration date.

The approximate time from application to registration (for a prosecution without an opposition) is four to six months.

An application is published for opposition purposes after formal examination of the application. The opposition must be filed in writing within the next two calendar months as of the first publication of the mark in the Gazette.

  • Name and address of the applicant.
  • State or country of incorporation.
  • Trademark description.
  • List of goods or services provided.
  • Trademark Representation.
  • Power of attorney.
  • Official filing fee.
  • Joint applicants are permitted in Costa Rica.
  • Actual use or intent to use are not required for application.
  • Local address for service must be provided for registration of trade names if the applicant is not domiciled in this jurisdiction.
  • The list of goods and services may specify the relevant class heading, the relevant entire alphabetic class listing and a combination of the class heading and a specific list of goods/services.
  • In Costa Rica, the type of registration available is national.
  • All documents must be translated into Spanish by an official translator.
  • All signed documents must be apostilled.
  • Costa Rica uses the Nice Classification System.
  • Costa Rica is a member of the Paris Convention, the Trademark Law Treaty, the Nice Agreement, the Vienna Agreement and the Lisbon Agreement.
  • Costa Rica is not a party to either the Madrid Agreement or the Madrid Protocol and may not be designated in international applications.
  • European Union Trade Mark registration is not effective in Costa Rica.
  • Multinational regional registrations are not available in Costa Rica.
  • Applications cannot be filed online.
  • The official file cannot be accessed online.

If your trademark has been successfully registered and it is time for you to renew it, you can start the procedure one year before the expiration date. There is a six-month grace period to renew the trademark after the expiration date.

If you do not renew on time, you will need to file a complete new application.

No proof of use is required for renewal. Once renewed, it will be valid for another ten-year period starting from the previous expiration date.

Trademark renewal requirements:

  • Name and address of the applicant.
  • Trademark description.
  • List of goods or services provided.
  • Power of Attorney.
  • Trademark registration number.

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Dealing with foreign associates could be very frustrating. BR is always available to reply my emails and phone calls

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