Business brief 2012: Venezuela

Patents

How do you register or secure patent rights, and is national or international coverage most appropriate?

In Venezuela, in order to the patentable, the subject matter must meet the principle of novelty; there are, however, some exceptions to this requirement, such as inventions, improvements or industrial models or designs that, having been patented abroad, have not been divulged, patented or executed in Venezuela, and are not in the public domain.

Another requirement for invention is the inventive step.

To obtain protection over an invention our Industrial Property Law provides that an application should be submitted before the Venezuelan Patent and Trademark Office (PTO).

What are the costs of registering and defending a patent?

The average cost of registering a patent is approximately $3,000. The costs at trial level depend on whether there are any injunctions; if so, the petitioner can expect regular trial costs of between $25,000 and $30,000, increasing by approximately $12,500 for an injunction proceeding.

Is there anything unusual about the patent law that companies should be aware of? What are the most common mistakes businesses make?

Since 2006, Venezuela is no longer a member of the Andean Community. The withdrawal has brought several and important changes regarding IP matters.

A petition of interpretation was filed before the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court in order to clarify which law will apply for IP matters. At the time of writing, the court has not determined whether Decision 486 is still in effect in Venezuela. However, the Venezuelan PTO has published notification that, as from September 17, 2008, the law applicable in Venezuela is the Industrial Property Law of 1955, which was the applicable law prior to Decision 486 of the Andean Community.

This law has implemented several changes: