HOW TO REGISTER A TRADEMARK IN CHILE

I.             REQUIREMENT DOCUMENTS

a.       The trademark details and clear copy of the logo to proceed with the application.

b.       Applicant’s information

c.       The international classes and the designated goods

d.       Priority certificate (If any)

e.       Notarized electronic copy of Power of Attorney

II.            GENERAL TIME FRAME OF TRADEMARK REGISTRATION IN A SMOOTH CASE

The approximate time from application to registration (for a regular prosecution, without opposition) is about six months to more than one year, assuming that no Office Action is needed.

III.         VALIDITY TERM

The duration of the protection of a trademark right is 10 years from the date of registration of the trademark, which may be renewed every 10 years.

For the renewal of a trademark registration, an application for the renewal should be filed with KIPO. Once a renewal application has been duly filed, the trademark registration is deemed to have been renewed on the expiration date of the original registration.

IV.    PROCEDURE

1.         Formal Examination

Once the application has been received, it will be examined for any error or omission of the formal requirements established by Chilean laws and regulations. If the application complies with the relevant standards, it will be accepted for processing. This will be communicated via INAPI´s daily report.

2.         Publication

Once the application has been accepted for processing, the applicant is obliged to request and pay for the publication of the extract of the application through the link to the Official Gazette.

The publication process should be carried out within 20 working days after the application has been accepted for processing. If publication is not requested within the given timeframe, the application shall be deemed not to have been filed and it will be archived.

Once 30 working days have passed from the publication of the extract, the application is sent to the Director of INAPI for substantive examination, in order to determine whether the sign is in conflict with any of the regulations, and particularly, if it is distinctive enough and there is no other similar trademark within the same scope. If the substantive examination finds that there are no grounds for ineligibility for registration, the application is accepted to the registry and the applicant is given a time period of 60 working days to pay and confirm payment of the final fees.

3.         Substantive examination

Once 30 working days have passed from the publication of the extract, the application is sent to the Director of INAPI for substantive examination, in order to determine whether the sign is in conflict with any of the regulations, and particularly, if it is distinctive enough and there is no other similar trademark within the same scope.

If the substantive examination finds that there are no grounds for ineligibility for registration, the application is accepted to the registry and the applicant is given a time period of 60 working days to pay and confirm payment of the final fees.

If the substantive examination finds that there are obstacles to granting the trademark, the Director of INAPI will inform to the applicant the grounds for ineligibility for registration. The applicant has 30 days to respond to said observations. Once this time period is over, whether the applicant or representative has answered the observations of the substantive examination or not, the Director issues a decision: if the grounds for ineligibility are reconsidered, this decision may be positive; otherwise, the trademark will be denied. In the latter case, the decision may be appealed to the Industrial Property Court (Tribunal de Propiedad Industrial, TDPI), within the following 15 working days.

If there are oppositions to the application within 30 working days from the publication of the extract of the application in the Official Gazette, the application shall be considered contested. Starting from the date of this communication, the applicant or representative has a time period of 30 working days to respond to the oppositions and/or observations. After 15 working days from when the judgment has been communicated via the INAPI´s daily report, no appeal has been filed by any party, the Secretary ratifies the absence of appellation, and the judgment becomes final.

4.         Registration

Once a final decision has been reached and the trademark is accepted for registration, the applicant must pay the final fees within a time period of 60 working days.