- North & South America
2. Uruguay made legal provisions for trademark registration in 1940. The current trademark law was established in November 1992 and implemented in January of the following year.
3. The National Industrial Property Office of Uruguay is responsible for review and management, and the official language is Spanish.
4. The acquisition of trademark rights is based on the principle of "prior registration", but the rights are still recognized within two years after the prior use of someone else's registered trademark.
5. Uruguayan trademarks adopt the Nice classification and accept multiple types of applications. The elements that can be registered as trademarks include: text, name, graphics, three-dimensional identification, color combination, slogan, sound, etc. The sound and color combination must meet specific requirements when applying for registration.
Uruguay is a party to international intellectual property treaties such as the TRIPS Agreement, Paris Convention, Nice Agreement, and WIPO Convention, and has not yet joined the Madrid Agreement or Madrid Protocol. Therefore, trademark registration in Uruguay can only be handled through "single country registration".
The validity period of a Uruguayan trademark is 10 years, calculated from the date of application. The renewal period for Uruguayan trademarks is 10 years, and the applicant should submit a trademark renewal application 6 months before the expiration of the trademark validity period.
1. Applicant's name and address
2. Categories and names of goods/services that require protection
3. Trademark design
4. Power of Attorney
Before applying, the applicant needs to first search whether the trademark has been registered or invalid, and whether it has been registered by others.
The applicant shall submit the application materials to the Uruguayan Trademark Office and pay the corresponding registration fees.
The Uruguayan Trademark Office conducts formal examination of submitted trademark application documents, power of attorney, trademark designs, etc. If it meets the requirements, the trademark will be included in the Trademark Announcement.
The Uruguayan Trademark Office conducts substantive examination of trademarks, mainly including examination of whether the trademark has distinctiveness, conflicts with prior rights, and conflicts with public interests.
After examination, if no grounds for rejection are found, the applicant will receive a trademark registration certificate. The applicant can also raise objections within 5 working days and provide relevant evidence materials.
If the whole process goes smoothly, it will take about 9-12 months.
