PATENTS
A patent is the exclusive right granted to an invention which fulfills certain conditions of patentability. In order to be patentable, the invention must show an element of NOVELTY and enough INVENTIVE STEP, as well as being suitable for INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION. COSTA RICA has a legal system (Law 6867 of Patents of Invention, Drawings and Industrial Models and Utility Models) capable of granting protection to the patents and also it is member of the Patent Cooperation Treatment (PCT).
TRADEMARES professional team works together with its clients and correspondents in each of the necessary formalities to obtain a patent in Costa Rica. Also, it makes easy the entrance to the National Phase of the PCT.
Once the patent has been granted, TRADEMARES automatically habilitates the alert system about the patent´s annuity, with the purpose of assuring its validity.
TRADEMARES offers legal consultancy specialized in patent and obligatory patent licenses and extension of the term of patent protection. It also offers patent defense before the Registry of Industrial Property or administrative, civil or criminal courts.
TRADEMARES is member of a reliable Intellectual Property legal network, comprised of colleagues that share the same quality and service standards as we offer. It allows us to legally protect your patent rights world-wide.
- THE PATENT IN COSTA RICA -
COSTA RICAN INVENTOR
If you, or your company, want to patent an invention we would like to help you. Contact us to make a first appointment and show us your Project, with no cost. We would advise you about the viability of registering your invention, the process of writing the patent claims, steps to follow before the Registry of the Industrial Property of Costa Rica and the possibilities of extending the protection of your invention to other countries, as well as the cost of these actions.
REQUIREMENTS
National System (and CUP)
The information and documents required by TRADEMARES to submit a Patent Application are the following:
1. GENERAL INFORMATION
- Name and conditions of the applicant.
- Name and conditions of the inventors.
- Title of the patent.
- International Classification
- Technology area in which it classifies in
- In case of claiming CUP priority, number, date and place of the priority request.
2. POWER OF ATTORNEY (POA)
Applicant shall grant a POA (PDF 40KB) on behalf of TRADEMARES and its attorneys.
According to the Costa Rican TM Office, Article 34 bis of the Law of Patents of Invention, Drawings and Industrial and Utility Models has deleted any consular and legalization POA formalities.
Therefore, it is enough to fill out a simple document with the grantor’s signature authenticated by a Notary. No legalization is required.
3. OTHER DOCUMENTS
PRIORITY DOCUMENT:
in case of claiming CUP priority, it shall deliver a copy of the PRIORITY document issued by the Office of the country of origin.
RIGHTS ASSIGNMENT DOCUMENT ON THE PART OF THE INVENTOR
When the applicant is not the inventor, a TRANSFER DOCUMENT is required. In the event that there are several inventors, all shall sign the transfer. This document shall be duly legalized by the Consulate of Costa Rica in the country of origin.
CERTIFICATE OF REGISTRATION IN OTHER COUNTRIES (optional):
In case the patent is granted in the country of origin proceeds or in any of the rest of the countries where the patent has been applied for, it is recommended to deliver a copy of the patent certificate.
PCT Patent (entry in National Phase)
To enter the PCT Patent´s National Phase the following information and documents are needed:
1. GENERAL INFORMATION
- Name and conditions of the applicant
- Name and conditions of the inventors (Also, in case that in the PCT phase the assignment of rights in favor of the applicant, the assignment agreement, duly legalized have not been delivered)
- Title of the patent
- International Classification
- Technology area in which it classifies in
- Indicate if it enters in the national phase by PCT Part I (only with international search report) or PCT Part II (with request of international preliminary examination).
- Information of the PCT file: number of international publication, number of international application, date of international application, priority date.
2. POWER OF ATTORNEY (POA)
Applicant shall grant a POA (PDF 40KB)on behalf of TRADEMARES and its attorneys.
According to the Costa Rican TM Office, Article 34 bis of the Law of Patents of Invention, Drawings and Industrial and Utility Models has deleted any consular and legalization POA formalities.
Therefore, it is enough to fill out a simple document with the grantor’s signature authenticated by a Notary. No legalization is required.
3. PCT DOCUMENTS
In accordance with the Registry of the Industrial Property of Costa Rica it is necessary to attach to the application a copy in paper and a digital copy of the following PCT documents:
Complete INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATION (copy of the “cover sheet” published by the OMPI and a complete set of the contents of the patent`s technical document: description, claims, summary and drawing)
INTERNATIONAL SEARCH REPORT
INTERNATIONAL PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION REPORT (in its case)
4. OTHER DOCUMENTS
PRIORITY DOCUMENT:
in case of claiming CUP priority, it shall deliver a copy of the PRIORITY document issued by the Office of the country of origin.
RIGHTS ASSIGNMENT DOCUMENT ON THE PART OF THE INVENTOR:
When the applicant is not the inventor, a TRANSFER DOCUMENT is required. In the event of being several inventors, all shall sign the transfer. This document shall be duly legalized by the Consulate of Costa Rica in the country of origin.
CERTIFICATE OF REGISTRATION IN OTHER COUNTRIES (optional):
In case the patent is granted in the country of origin proceeds or in any of the rest of the countries where the patent has been applied for, it is recommended to deliver a copy of the patent certificate.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: all the documents to be filed before the Registry of Industrial Property of Costa Rica shall be in Spanish or come with its translation into Spanish.
PROCEDURE
The procedure steps from filling a patent application until the effective granting of the patent right in Costa Rica will be briefly described as follows:
- Filling of the application
- Formal examination. Review of the application to determine if it complies with all the formal requirements established by law. In case that there are documents missing the Registry issues a prevention indicating the documents that are missing or the additional information that they require. To comply they give terms between 15 days and two months.
- Publication. Once fulfilled the formal examination, a publication edict is issued. This shall be published three consecutive times in La Gaceta and once in a newspaper of national circulation. As of the third publication in La Gaceta the public opposition term of three months starts running.
- Opposition. If an opposition is filed, the applicant has a month-term to answer. Then the patent is sent to substantial (patentability) examination. The opposition will be solved in the substantial resolution.
- Notification of the expert´s cost about the patentability examination. The Registry will notify the applicant about the amount that shall be canceled to carry out the Patentability Examination (expert) and it will grant a term of 15 days to pay such amount.
- Substantive examination. Once the expert´s study has been cancelled it shall wait until the technical office issues a report in which it indicates if the invention is or not patentable.
- In the event of a refusal, the applicant has a term of one month to file observations and correct or complete the documentation, modify or divide the application. If the applicant does not comply with what is established within the term, the Registry will deny the patent application through a substantial resolution.
- Grant of the Patent Right. In case of being patentable the procedure for its registry continues until the certification right is issued.
RATES
TRADEMARES rate policy responds to transparency principles and strict execution to the agreed budget.
However, in patents matter it is impossible to establish pre-fixed costs, as some of the governmental fees (publication fee, novelty examination fee) are fixed according to the characteristics of each application. Also, in case of opposition of a third party or unfavorable novelty report, the defense document will cost according to the dedicated time (a minimum of US$ 150).
Without prejudice of the aforementioned, our schedule of fees can be found here (PDF 40KB).
We guarantee that there are no additional costs for the File´s updating reports, formalities in relation to the publication phase, nor to secure the original patent right certificate.
PATENT VALIDITY / PATENT ANNUITIES
The patent has a validity term of twenty years as of the date of filling the application in the Registry of Industrial Property.
For the PCT patents, the validity term begins from the date of the international filling.
The Costa Rican law establishes only for product patents, an extension term of validity up to a maximum of 18 additional months, for those cases in which the patent procedure has been delayed for more than five years from the filling date in Costa Rica or more than three years from the request for novely examination. For more information refer to Article 17 Law of Patents.
Currently, our Law establishes the payment of annuities (annual rates) during the life of the patent to maintain its validity. For more information refer to Article 33 bis Law of Patents. In accordance with DRPI 001-2009, the payment of annuities is only required for those patents (granted) filled as of April 25th of 2008. All patents with filling date before this date are exempt of annuity payments.
- FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ) -
What kind of invention is patentable?
What does the protection of a patent consist of?
Second and Further Medical Uses in Costa Rica
What is a patent?
The patent is the reward which is granted to the inventor due to its contribution to innovation. It allows the inventor to exploit the invention in MONOPOLY during the years of protection of the patent right. This guarantees that the inventor will be the ONLY one in the market that can commercially exploit the invention.
In consideration, the information related to the patented invention is published. With this, the information enters to the public domain allowing the rest of investigators to know the advances achieved.
What kind of invention is patentable?
An invention is patentable if it shows an element of NOVELTY and enough INVENTIVE STEP, as well as being suitable for INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION.
An invention is new when it does not exist previously in the state of the art. The estate of the art comprises everything made accessible to the public in any place of the world and through any mean, before the filling date of the patent´s application in Costa Rica, or, in its case, before the applicable priority date.
The following, in particular, shall not be regarded as inventions in Costa Rica:
a) Discoveries, scientific theories, mathematical methods and computer programs considered isolated.
b) Aesthetic creations and literary and artistic works.
c) Advertisement, business or economic plans, schemes, rules and methods for performing mental acts, playing games or doing business
d) The juxtaposition of the known inventions or mixtures of known products, its variation of form or use, dimensions or materials. Except the ones which are combinations or fusions that cannot operate separately or that the qualities or functions characteristic of them are modified to obtain an industrial result, not obvious for a technician in the matter.
The following may not be the subject matter of a patent:
a) The inventions whose commercial exploitation would be contrary to the public policy, morality, health or life of the people or animals or shall be prevented, necessarily and objectively to preserve the vegetables or avoid great damage to the environment.
b) Diagnosis, therapeutic and surgical methods for the treatment of people and animals.
c) The plants and animals, except microorganisms, provided they are not microorganism such as the ones found in nature.
d) The essentially biological processes for the production of plants and animals, which are not biological or microbiological processes.
What does the protection of a patent consist of?
The protection of a patent means that the invention cannot be reproduced, used or commercialized during the protection term without the patent owner’s consent. Once the protection term expires the invention is at free disposal of any third party who wants to exploit it.
In Costa Rica, the patent has a validity term of twenty years as of the filling date of the application in the Registry of Industrial Property.
Second and Further Medical Uses in Costa Rica
Due to the importance of this matter, TRADEMARES made a legal consultation to the Registry of the Industrial Property of Costa Rica about the Registry`s position in relation to the patentability of second medical uses in Costa Rica. The answer is definitive: Costa Rica does not accept the patentability of second or further medical uses, due to the fact that it understands that they are results of coincidence (discovery) and therefore, they are not inventions. Resolution of the Registry (PDF 120KB)
La Patente en Costa Rica
- Costa Rican Inventor
- Requirements
- Procedure
- Rates
- Patent Validity / Annuities