- North & South America
2. The current trademark regulations in Ecuador are mainly based on the Intellectual Property Law that came into effect on May 19, 1998, and Resolution 486 of the Andean Community Commission.
3. The trademark affairs are managed by the Ecuadorian Intellectual Property Office, and the official language is Spanish. Trademark exclusive rights need to be obtained through registration.
4. The trademark registration in Ecuador adopts the principle of "application first".
5. At present, Ecuador adopts the Nice Classification 11th edition of product and service descriptions and does not accept applications for multiple categories in one form. The elements that can be registered as trademarks in Ecuador include: text, name, graphics, letters, color, three-dimensional identification, etc.
Ecuador is a contracting party to international intellectual property treaties such as the WIPO Convention and the Paris Convention, and has not yet joined the Madrid Agreement or the Madrid Protocol. Therefore, trademark registration in Ecuador can only be processed through the "single country registration" method.
The validity period of the trademark is 10 years from the date of registration; Renewal can be processed within 6 months before the expiration date, with a grace period of 6 months (with additional fees) and a validity period of 10 years.
If a trademark has not been used for three consecutive years, an application for revocation can be filed.
1. Applicant's name and address
2. Goods or services
3. Trademark design
4. Power of attorney, authentication required
5. To submit priority, priority proof documents and corresponding Spanish translations are required
Application acceptance announcement review approval issuance.
Ecuador adopts a pre announcement procedure, which involves first announcing for third-party objections, and then conducting substantive examination.
Submit application documents to the Ecuadorian Intellectual Property Office;
The application will be accepted 1-2 weeks after submission, and a formal review will be conducted first to examine whether the application requirements and classification information comply with regulations;
Once the formal review is approved, an announcement will be arranged, and the objection period will be 30 days from the announcement date;
The examiner will conduct substantive examination of the application, including examination of the distinctiveness of the trademark, whether it violates the prohibition and prohibition clauses, and whether it conflicts with the prior trademark. If the examination fails, a rejection notice will be issued and a response will be required within the prescribed time;
Upon approval of the review, registration will be granted and a registration certificate will be issued.
If everything goes smoothly, the entire process will take about 12-18 months.
