Chile – Latam Guideline

WIPO-administered Treaties: 

Contracting Party of the Madrid System: YES 

Trade Mark Law in force: 

Industrial Property Law No. 19.039.

Last modification by Regulatory Decree No. 20569 of 6 February 2012. 

On January 2022 Law No. 21.355 comes into force, amending the Industrial Property Law and Law No. 20.254.

Classification: 

Nice classification, 11th edition. 

Multiclass Applications: 

Possible. 

Registrable trade marks: 

Words, names and all distinctive and graphically representable signs, as well as sound marks and slogans. 

Olfactory, tridimensional and moving Trademarks are now possible to register.

Formal filing requirements: 

• Power of Attorney merely signed (no legalization and no notarization required) 60 working days after the official request.
• Copy of priority application (in color) and its translation into Spanish within 90 days from filing. 

Examination: 

Absolute grounds for refusal: YES.

Relative grounds for refusal: YES. 

Opposition period: 

30 working days from publication date. 

Average time from filing to grant: 

Approximately 8 months, unless any obstacles were raised. 

Term of protection: 

10 years from the date of registration. 

Use requirements: 

Mandatory use of trademarks and commercial names. 

Possible revocation of registration due to loss of distinctiveness.

Renewal terms: 

6 months prior to renewal date.

Grace period: 30 days from expiration date, BUT 6 months as from April 01, 2021 (surcharge of 20% each month) except for sound, collective, certification, and warranty trademarks 

WIPO-administered Treaties: 

Contracting Party of the Paris Convention: YES

Contracting Party of the Patent Cooperation

Treaty (PCT): YES. Due term for entry into national phase: 30 months. 

Patent Law in force: 

Patent Law 19.039/1991 (modified by Law No. 19.996 on November 2005, Law No. 20.160 on 2007 and finally, by Law 20.569 on 2012) 

On January 2022 Law No. 21.355 comes into force, amending the Industrial Property Law and Law No. 20.254.

Formal filing requirements: 

• Power of Attorney: Merely signed (no legalization required) within 60 working days from office action. Scanned copy will suffice. • Assignment document from the inventors: merely signed (no legalization required) within 60 working days from office action. Not required if assignment is registered in WIPO. Examiners may require assignment during examination procedure. • Certified copy of priority application: within 90 working-days from filing (not required for entry into national phase of PCT applications provided that PCT/IB304 form is available). 
• Sequence listings must be filed in WIPO Standard ST.26 format.
• Possibility of filing a provisional patent application.

Filing of the patent application in a foreign language: 

Accepted. Late submission of the Spanish translation is possible within 60 days from notification from Office.  

Substantive examination must be requested by the applicant: 

YES, within 60-working days as from the end of the opposition term. 

Observations by third parties: 

YES, within 45-working days from publication. 

Opposition: 

YES, within 45-working days from publication. 

Average time from filing to grant: 

2.5 to 5 years 

Term of protection for patents: 

20 years from filing date. 

Reducing timeline for requesting supplementary protection (from 6 months to 60 days from grant)

Term of protection for utility models: 

10 years from filing date. 

Maintenance: 

Payment in decades after grant. 

Marking of the product with the application/ patent number: 

Optional. Failure to comply with this requirement will not affect the validity of the patent, civil proceedings would apply.  

Compulsory licensing: 

YES 

WIPO-administered Treaties:

Contracting Party of the Hague System: NO 

Applicable Law: 

Chilean Law 19.039 

On January 2022 Law No. 21.355 comes into force, amending the Industrial Property Law and Law No. 20.254.

Grace period for filing applications, from disclosure: 

12 months. 

Multiple design applications -one application for different embodiments-available: 

No 

Formal filing requirements: 

Identification of the applicant and the designer. 

 Power of Attorney: merely signed. 60 working days from Office Action.  

Assignment document. When applicable. 60 working days from office Action.  

Priority document, when applicable. 90 days from filing. Mandatory Spanish translation.  

Specifications.  

Drawings.  

Locarno classification: 

Not part of the Locarno Agreement contracting parties, but Locarno Classification used in practice. 

Deferred publication: 

Yes. 18 months. 

Registration Proceeding Outline: 

Filing. Preliminary examination. Publication. Examination Request. Examiner’s report. Decision. 

Possibility of accelerated procedure (without technical examination)

Opposition: 

Yes. Within a 45 working days term from the publishing date. Cancellation is also possible, within 5 years from granting 

Average time from filing to grant: 

Around 3 years 

Term of Protection and Maintenance: 

Protection up to 15 years from filing date.

Does it accept an administrative request for surveillance?

YES

Intellectual property rights protected through an administrative request for surveillance

Trademarks
Copyrights
Patents

Requirement to file for an application of an administrative request for surveillance

List and Registration of Trademarks
Certificate of Registrationc
PoA

Procedure (special aspects)

Although there is an Administrative surveillance procedure, once a counterfeit product is found, there is no simplified administrative procedure for the destruction of the goods.

Customs shall proceed ex officio to suspend the clearance of goods that are obviously counterfeit. The representative of the trademark is notified of the possible infringement, in order for him to provide information about the authenticity of such products in a short deadline. Within the same period, the owner or representative of the trademark must file a complaint and request that the decreed measure be maintained.

Territory: Chile

Data Protection Regulations: Law No. 19628 ON PROTECTION OF PRIVATE LIFE

Regulatory purpose: The law regulates the “processing of personal data in registers or data banks by public bodies or private individuals”.

Parties:

• Data controller: Yes. Responsible for the register or database, the private natural or legal person, or the respective public body, which is responsible for the decisions related to the processing of personal data (Art. 2 letter n Law N°19628).
• Data Processor: No.
• Data Protection Officer: No.

Supervisory Authority: No. A Personal Data Protection Agency is in the making.

• Other: No information.

Principles: 

• Freedom in the processing of personal data (Art. 1 Law N°19628).
• Information and consent of the data subject (Arts. 10, 17 and 24 Law N°19628).
• Principle of purpose (Art. 9 Law N°19628 and Law N°20575).
• Data quality (Art. 9 paragraph 2 of Law N°19628).
• Special protection of sensitive data (Art. 2 letter g) Law N°19628).
• Data security (Art. 11 Law N°19628).
• Duty of secrecy (Art. 7 Law N°19628).
• Proportionality (Art. 3 letter c) Bulletin 11144-7)
• Guarantees against the transfer and communication of data to third parties (Art. 5 Law N°19628).

Obligations:

• Register of Processing Activities: Yes.
• Impact Assessments: No.
• Risk analysis: Yes.
• Technical and organisational security measures: No.
• Duty to inform: Yes.
• Data Protection Officer: No.
• Other obligations:

Deletion of data (Art.6 clause 1 Law N°19628)
Right of communication to third parties by controllers of personal data (Art.2 letter c) of Bulletin 11144-7)
Information and transparency (Art.14 ter Bulletin 11144-7)
Confidentiality (Art.14 bis Bulletin 11144-7)

Data subjects’ rights:

• Right of Access: Yes.
• Right of rectification: Yes.
• Right of Suppression: Yes.
• Right to limitation: Yes.
• Right to portability: No.
• Right to object: Yes.
• Automated individual decisions, including profiling: No information.
• Other rights: No information.

International transfers:

They are allowed only to countries with an adequate level of protection, according to the Agency’s criteria; or to countries that do not have an adequate level of protection in certain specific scenarios, including, among others, when there is the express consent of the holder; in specific international banking, financial or stock exchange transfers, transfers between companies belonging to the same corporate group, related companies or companies subject to the same controller; or when made for the purpose of providing or requesting international judicial assistance (Art°15 Bulletin 11144-7).

Sanctioning regime:

Yes, catalogue of infringements:

• The Bill classifies infringements as minor, serious and very serious, and provides for fines ranging from 1 to 5,000 UTM (approximately $46,000 CLP to $231,840,000 CLP, as of the date of entry of the Bill).
  In case of repeated serious or very serious infringements, the Agency may order the suspension of treatment operations and their compliance with the law.
• In the event of a repeat offence, a fine of up to three times the amount specified in the law may be applied. Recidivism will occur when there are two or more sanctions in a period of 24 months.
• Actions to sanction the infringements described in the Draft prescribe three years after the infringement, but the offender must pay damages.

Certification or accreditation of compliance for companies: No.

Other related legislation:

• Law No. 20.575 which establishes the principle of purpose in the processing of personal data. Bill Boletín N°11144-07 which regulates the protection and processing of personal data and creates the Personal Data Protection Agency.
• Law No. 21.236 on financial portability.
• Law No. 20.471 on number portability.