The trademark registration process pursuant to the 1955 Industrial Property Law is very different from that under Decision 486. One of the mayor differences, besides the reclassification into Venezuelan Classes, is that applications are now reviewed as to compliance with formalities and, once they have passed this review, the Industrial Property Registrar orders their publication in a local newspaper via notification in the Industrial Property Bulletin.

The following is a brief description of the registration process:
1. The application is filed, a separate application must be filed for each class of interest indicating both the Venezuelan and the International Class. A power of attorney is necessary;
2. The application is reviewed as to the fulfillment of formal requirement, if the requirements are not met the application is returned for purposes of amendment;
3. The application is reviewed as to its inherent registrability (absolute grounds of refusal);
4. The Registry orders (via official notice in the Industrial Property Bulletin) the publication of the application in a local newspaper
5. The excerpt of publication must be filed with the Registry;
6. The application is published in the Industrial Property Bulletin for purposes of opposition by third parties;
7. If no oppositions is filed, the application is published as granted in the Industrial Property Bulletin
It is not clear whether or not an application would be published as denied between Steps 3 and 4 or between Steps 6 and 7. Another important aspect to take in consideration is that searches are mandatory and must be filed along with the application.

National:
The opposition period is 30 working days from publication date of the application in the IP Bulletin. Oppositions are no longer decided on their merits; rather, failure to file a response to the opposition will result in the application being declared withdrawn.

Opposition against designation of IR Mark
(The period starts from the national publication date, if not stated differently):
is not a member of the Madrid Agreement or Protocol.

Protection begins with the date of registration. A trademark registration is valid for 15 years from the date of registration. The registration is renewable for periods of 15 years.

The Law does not set forth a grace period for trademark renewals.

If the trademark has not been used for a 2 year period, it may subject to cancellation. In this action the burden of proof lies with the party who filed the action.

The official fee is VEF 1,341.60 (approx. EUR 242.00).

Trademark Licence Agreement
In Venezuela the law does not provide that the agreement has to be in writing, but for the purpose of notification before the Trademark Office and the consequent validity before third parties, it is necessary to have a written agreement. It is not permitted to license the use of unregistered trademarks. An agreement may not be recorded before the Trademark Office if the mark is not granted. A trademark may be licensed for some or all of the goods or services in respect of which the mark is registered. The sale of a registered trademark does not automatically terminate the licence, unless otherwise agreed upon in the licence agreement. There are no statutory provisions prescribing the terms of licensing; however for registering a licence agreement before foreign investment authorities, it is required to have very clear termination clauses.

Recordal
There are provisions in law for the recordal of a licensee with the Trademark Office. The recordal is mandatory in order to be effective against third parties. There is no time frame for a recordal and there is no prescribed form or content for the validity of a licence agreement but it should be in writing. The parties will establish the content of the agreement.

Further documents are required for a recordal:
1. A power of attorney from one of the parties is required, executed before a notary public and legalised or apostilled if granted before a foreign authority.

Effectiveness
The licence agreement becomes effective and enforceable against third parties when the agreement is notified before the Trademark Office. The licence is not required to be published.

Infringement Proceedings
There is an evidentiary presumption that use by a registered user is permitted use. The licensee may join the proprietor in infringement proceedings. He may also call upon the trademark owner to institute infringement proceedings, but he may not institute infringement proceedings in his own name if the proprietor refuses or neglects to do so, unless otherwise provided for in the licence agreement. The licensee is not required to cite the proprietor as co-defendant in any such proceedings.

Remarks
If the licensor is a foreign company and the licensee is a national company the agreement has to be registered before the foreign investment authorities.

Search type	First class	Add. class
Word Mark Search (availability)	340,00 €	250,00 €
Word Mark Search (identical)	310,00 €	210,00 €
Extended Search (word mark, company name, domain)	830,00 €	250,00 €
Device Mark Search (availability)	430,00 €	270,00 €
Trademark Owner Search	340,00 €
Company Name Search	590,00 €
Domain Name Search (extended)
i-Search (word mark availability + legal opinion)	550,00 €	420,00 €

The Prices above are S.M.D. Markeur Search Fees