Dominican Republic – Latam Guideline
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- Dominican Republic – Latam Guideline
Trademarks
Patents
Designs
Data protection
Trademarks
WIPO-administered Treaties:
Contracting Party of the Madrid System: NO.
Trade Mark Law in force:
Industrial Property Law 20-00.
Classification:
Nice classification, 10th edition.
Multiclass Applications:
YES.
Registrable trademarks:
All distinctive and graphically representable signs, words, names, acronyms, letters, numbers, devices,emblems, colours, combinations or shades of colours, three-dimensional forms, the three-dimensional form of a good or its packaging, sounds and smells.
Formal filing requirements:
- Power of Attorney merely signed (no legalisation and no notarisation required) within 30 days from office action.
- Certified copy of the priority application and its translation into Spanish within 3 months from the application date.
Examination:
Absolute grounds for refusal: YES.
Relative grounds for refusal: YES.
Opposition period:
45 days from the publication date.
Average time from filing to grant:
Approximately 3-4, months unless any obstacles were raised.
Term of protection:
10 years from the date of registration.
Use requirements:
YES. Cancellation can be requested if the trademark has not been used for 3 years, counting from the registration date. Partial cancellation is possible.
Renewal terms:
6 months prior to renewal date.
Grace period: 6 months.
Patents
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:
IP Law 20-00 dated May 8, 2000 (modified by Law 424-2006 dated November 20, 2006)
Types of protection available:
Patent of Invention; Utility Model.
Formal filing requirements:
- Power of Attorney duly notarized and legalized by apostille within 60 days from office action. 60 day extension of term.
- Assignment document from the inventors duly notarized and legalized within 60 days from office action. Not required under certain circumstances (not required for entry into national phase ir already recorded before the IB). 60 day extension of term.
- Certified copy of priority application within 3 months from filing, together with Spanish translation 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.
Filing of the patent application in a foreign language:
Accepted. Late submission of the Spanish translation is possible within 60 calendar days from office action.
Substantive examination must be requested by the applicant:
YES, within 12 months from publication.
Search report must be requested by the applicant:
NO
Observations by third parties:
YES, within 60 calendar days from publication.
Opposition:
NO
Average time from filing to grant:
5-6 years.
Term of protection for patents:
20 years from filing date.
Term of protection for utility models:
15 years from filing date.
Differences between utility model and patent:
UM suitable for utensils, instruments, tools, apparatus, devices, or any parts or improvements thereof, but not process or use patents; chemical, metallurgic or related substance or composition products; matter excluded from protection for patent invention; lower threshold for inventive step.
Maintenance:
Yearly also during prosecution of the application for patents. Payments for periods of 5 years for Utility models.
Compulsory licensing:
YES
Designs
WIPO-administered Treaties:
Contracting Party of the Hague System: NO.
Applicable Law:
Law 20-00 on Industrial Property, modified by Law 424-06 on Implementation of the DR-CAFTa; TRIPS;
Grace period for filing applications, from disclosure:
12 months.
Multiple design applications -one application for different embodiments-available:
YES, 20 designs maximum, provided that they relate to products belonging to the same category in the Locarno Classification.
Formal filing requirements:
Power of attorney, legalized up to Apostille. 60 days from Office Action.
Priority document (certified), when application.
Description of the design.
Assignment document, legalized up to Apostille. 60 days from Office Action.
Locarno classification:
Not part of the Lorcano Agreement, but the Locarno Classification is used in practice.
Deferred publication:
NO.
Registration Proceeding Outline:
Filing and payment of examination fees. Formal examination. Publication, upon payment of the corresponding fee. Oppositions. Substantive examination (after 6 months from filing), considering any oppositions filed. Decision. Publication of granting decision, upon payment of the corresponding fee, in order to obtain the Registration Certificate.
Opposition:
YES, before granting, within 30 days from the publication. Nullity action is also possible.
Average time from filing to grant:
8-10 months.
Term of Protection and Maintenance:
5 years, can be extended up to 15 years.
Data protection
Territory: Dominican Republic
Data Protection Regulations:
- Constitution of the Dominican Republic.
- Law No. 172-13.
Regulatory purpose: The comprehensive protection of personal data held in files, public registers, data banks or other technical means of data processing for reporting purposes, whether public or private.
Parties:
- Data controller: Yes. It is any person, public or private, who is the owner of the personal data file and who decides on the purpose, content, means of processing and use of the information obtained from the processing of personal data.
- Data Processor: Yes. The natural or legal person, public or private, who carries out the processing of personal data on behalf of the controller.
- Data Protection Officer: No.
Supervisory Authority: No. At the financial sector level, there is the Superintendency of Banks.
Principles:
- Lawfulness of personal data files;
- Quality of the Data;
- Right to Information;
- Consent of the Data Subject;
- Data Privacy;
- Confidentiality obligations;
- Loyalty;
- Purpose of the Data
Obligations:
- Register of Processing Activities: No.
- Impact Assessments: No.
- Risk analysis: No.
- Technical and organisational security measures: Yes.
- Duty to inform: No.
- Data Protection Officer: Yes.
Data subjects’ rights:
- Right of Access: Yes.
- Right of rectification: Yes.
- Right of Suppression: Yes.
- Right to limitation: No.
- Right to portability: No.
- Right to object: Yes.
- Automated individual decisions, including profiling: No.
International transfers:
Prohibited, with exceptions. The international transfer of personal data of any kind to countries that do not ensure an adequate level of data protection is prohibited as a general rule. Transfers are permitted provided that there are mechanisms in place that provide adequate safeguards:
- Model Contractual Clauses (MCC)
- Binding Corporate Rules (BCR)
- Code of Conduct approved in accordance with applicable law.
- Certification mechanism.
- Legally binding and enforceable instruments between public authorities or bodies.
The law empowered the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce to pronounce on international data transfers, through the Declaration of Conformity. The Superintendent is empowered to request information and carry out the necessary steps to establish compliance with the requirements for the viability of the operation.
Sanctioning regime:
Serious or Repeated Violations – 10 to 100 Minimum Wages.
