The past February 6 of 2012 In Chile have been issued the Law N° 20.569 that amends the industrial property law No. 19.039 whit the purpose of standardize and make better the patents application and trademark registration procedure.

The main changes to take into account are related with the formality requirement for the power of attorney. Before of this act the POA was to be signed at the Chilean Consulate in the applicant’s country, or with Apostille, if the country was part of the Hague Apostille Convention. But now it is not necessary to be legalized before a Consulate, it is only necessary that The POA is signed by the legal representative of society, if this is the applicant, or the individual.

This disposition was adopted acording with the Trademark Law Treaty, signed by Chile in August 5, 2011.

To view the complete Law: http://www.leychile.cl/Navegar?idNorma=1036995

Before 2012 the publication was made once a month. Starting on January there will be two monthly publications which means every two weeks there will be  information available.

The Gazette of Industrial Property in Colombia, is a publication that contains mainly information about trademark and patents. It is made by the Colombian Patent and Trademark Office: Sic (Www.Sic.Gov.Co). Within these reports, we can find information concerning  applications submitted and degrees awarded in relation with trademarks and other distinctive signs, patents, utility models and industrial designs.

The decision of the Colombian PTO to make more publications has big consequences, because it saves time in the application process and gives a better and timely service.

According to the last WIPO publication of the World Intellectual Property Indicators, 2011 edition, Chile is the world leader in trademark use. In effect they were 218 trademarks applications in Chile for every one billion of NGI. Trademarks and patents registrations have also grown higher than the National Global Income.
The number of pending patent applications has declined. This means that the Chilean trademark office is improving its capacity to process the applications.

Paraguay’s Patent and Trademark office has issued new administrative measures for extending for only one time the chance to perform payments of patent annuities after the lapse of the original deadline (including the 6 months grace period).

Applicants and patent holders have 60 labour  days  to regularize the maintenance fees of patent applications or granted patents that are due. Due payments are subject to surcharge.

The Ecuadorian Intellectual Property Institut has limited to 30 labour days the time frame an opponent trademark owner can file its opposition after publication.  Before this decision the Institut accepted that the deadline could be extended for another 30 days, making it a 60 days period.

Worldwide Symposium on Geographical Indications
The International Symposium on Geographical Indications is organized every other year by WIPO in cooperation with an interested Member State. It brings together representatives of Member States’ administrations, producers of GI products and specialists in the field of geographical indications. The Symposium is a forum for an exchange of ideas and views on various issues relating to the use and protection of geographical indications. The Symposium will offer insights into the technicalities of the subject and it is expected that it will contribute to the ongoing debate on geographical indications at the national and international levels. WIPO, the National Institute for the Defense of Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property of Peru (INDECOPI) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru jointly organize the 2011 Worldwide Symposium on Geographical Indications, in Lima, Peru, from June 22 to 24.

Reforms of Regulations under the Industrial Property law of June 10, 2011.

There are two important changes:

1. When filing word marks, it is only possible to include words in the roman alphabet. *,+,&,#,@,/ will not be accepted as part of word marks.

2. When claiming a priority of a foreign trademark application, certified copy of the priority application will be no longer required. It is sufficient to declare application number, date and country of the priority claimed.

The Colombian parlament has approved the bill project number 163 of 2010. This doesn’t mean yet that Colombia is part of the Madrid Protocol. The bill has to be studied by the Constitutional Court and the government will have to file the ratification instrument.

It is our understanding that the treaty will be ready to be ratified by Colombia once the American Congress ratifies the Free Trade Agreement with Colombia. This could take sometime has there is a not good ambience in the US for the approval of this treaty.

A new section at the Patents and Trademark Office in Paraguay has been open to manage Geographical Indications. It is expected to have a complete regulation on geographical indications coming.

By Act 1455 of 2011 Congress approved the Madrid Protocol, a mechanism that creates a system of international registration (Madrid) for the International Registration of Marks for Goods and Services.

The official fees for patents and trademarks have increased from the 1st of july 2011.  This is the second time this year that the National Intellectual Property Institution -INPI- increases de fees this year.

Almost every Latin American country has increased their fees in recent times.

The Colombian Government has presented a bill to the parliament that limits Internet Service Providers liability.  This project basically is a copy of the Digital Millennium Copyrights Act, and is part of the new regulations that Colombia is adopting to fulfill with its commitments derived from the Free Trade Agreement signed with the United States.   Colombia has approved the treaty but the American Congress hasn’t.

The 6th of april the Colombian Constitutional Court has approved the Trademark Law Treaty.  The only step missing for complete ratification of the treaty is that the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs the WIPO about its approval.

This is a very good news for trademarks holders as application procedures will be simplified.  One important point is that power of attorneys will be simplified and will not require any formalities. Another major point is that multi class applications will be also possible.

The approval of this treaty is part of the obligations that Colombia has agreed within the Free Trade Agreement with the United States.

We expect these changes to take place in about three months.

A new section at the Patents and Trademark Office in Paraguay has been open to manage Geographical Indications.  It is expected to have a complete regulation on geographical indications coming.

On December 2, 2009, the Colombian Senate, in plenary session, approved Bill 277/2009 calling for accession to the Madrid Protocol. The bill had been considered and approved by the Senate Second Commission on June 18, 2009. This is a significant step toward the accession of Colombia to the Madrid Protocol.

For Colombia’s accession to become effective, approval by the House of Representatives is still required. The bill has now moved on to the House of Representatives for consideration, first at committee level and then in plenary session, in the months to come.

Since october 2010 Peru is a new member of The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents

This international treaty will make it easier to legalize public documents for their use in Peru and abroad as well, eliminating two steps: consular authentication and legalization at Foreign Relations Ministry.

“Under this international treaty (The Hague Apostille), which has been signed by some 90 countries, the paperwork for public documents to be used in another country will be faster, recognizing its authenticity by means of an “apostille” (or seal) put onto the document that will certify it in any of the countries who have signed this treaty,” said congresswoman Gabriela Perez del Solar.