Oct 16, 2012 (Newsletter Issue 15/12)
Major Amendments to IP Laws
There have been major changes in the Intellectual Property Laws in Panama due to the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement with the U.S.
Panama has approved the following treaties:
- Trademark Law Treaty (TLT)
- Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
- Budapest Treaty
- UPOV Treaty
Law No. 35 of 1996 has been amended to comply with these treaties and major changes are:
- Multiclass registration system for trademarks is now possible.
- Online registration will be available.
- Elimination of the requirement of authentication and legalization of Powers of Attorney.
- Elimination of the requirement to provide a certificate evidencing the existence of the applicant company.
- New requirement to declare a domicile in Panama for administrative and judicial purposes.
- The concept of registration of Powers of Attorney.
- Official trademark fees have been amended.
- Protection is granted to commercial names without registration being required.
- Mergers, assignments, change of name and address can be done for all the trademarks owned by one company at the same time with just one document.
- The best right system will change from first international use to local use.
- Opposition, nullity and cancellation actions can now be appealed up to the Supreme Court.
- Special rules and regulations on geographic indications.
The new legislation went into effect on October 1, 2012.
Source: Jimenez, Molino y Moreno, Panama and
Alfaro, Ferrer & Ramirez, Panama
Legal basis is the Intellectual Property Law No. 35 of November 10, 1996, amended by Law No. 61 of October 5, 2012, regulated by the Executive Decree No. 85 of July 4, 2017.
Trademark protection is obtained by registration. It can also be acquired by sufficient public recognition.
Nice classification, 12th edition
Registrable as a trademark are all distinctive and graphically representable signs, such as words, names, acronyms, letters, numbers, devices, emblems, holograms, colours, combinations or shades of colours, three-dimensional forms, the three-dimensional form of a good or its packaging and any combination of the mentioned signs as well as sound, smell and taste marks. The law also explicitly mentions trademark protection of slogans. Only the complete slogan is registrable, not the single words of which it consists.
The following trademark types are registrable: trade marks, service marks, collective marks, certification marks and trade names.
The application is filed at the Panama Industrial Property Direction (DIGERPI).
Multiple-class applications now are possible.
All applicants need a local lawyer.
A Power of Attorney Registry has been established by Law 61 but a regulation is not yet available. After the Power of Attorney is registered, there will be no need to submit a Power of Attorney with each application or renewal anymore; the reference to the registration details will suffice.
Powers of Attorney should be authenticated and legalized. Translation to Spanish is required if said Power of Attorney is granted in another language.
The applicant’s company doesn’t need to provide a certificate evidencing its existence anymore. However, the registration details and jurisdiction under which the company is existing must be declared.
A domicile in Panama for administrative and judicial purposes is required.
The application process includes a formal examination, an examination of distinctiveness and a search for prior trademarks.
The processing time from first filing to registration or first office action is approx. 3 to 6 months. Prior to registration, the trademark application is published in the “Boletin del Registro de Propiedad Industrial”.
National:
The opposition period is 2 months from publication date of the application.
Protection begins with the date of application. A trademark registration is valid for 10 years from date of application. The registration is renewable for periods of 10 years.
Practical details on grace periods for trademark renewals are available in our publication
herePractical details on trademark use requirements are available in our publication
hereThe official fee for filing a trademark is USD 140.50 per class including registration and publication fees.
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Practical details on trademark licensing are available in our publication
hereOnline you can see a limited part of information about this country.
More in-depth details are available for the following aspects:
General Trademark Regulations
Trademark Use Requirements
Grace Period for Trademark Renewal
Trademark Licensing
If you like to purchase all available information for this country, click the order button.
The total price is
49.00 EUR. A PDF-Download will be sent to you electronically.
Jun 20, 2023
Jimenez, Molino y Moreno, Panama City, Panama