How to Register a Trademark in Chile

A registered trademark gives you the exclusive right to use your brand in Chile and to stop others from using the same or a similar sign. Trademarks are registered with INAPI, the Instituto Nacional de Propiedad Industrial, under Law 19,039 on Industrial Property.

What you can register

• Words, names, letters, numbers, logos and combinations of them.
• Marks for goods and for services, and marks for commercial or industrial establishments.
• Advertising phrases linked to a registered mark.
• Collective and certification marks.
• Non-traditional signs, such as sounds, allowed since the 2021 reform (Law 21,355).

Steps to register a trademark in Chile

1. Search INAPI’s database for identical or similar marks in the same classes.
2. File the application online with INAPI (Clave Única or an INAPI account), choosing the classes of the Nice Classification and paying the filing fee. A foreign applicant usually acts through a representative in Chile with a power of attorney.
3. Formal review: once INAPI accepts the application, the applicant has 20 business days to order and pay the publication of an extract in the Diario Oficial. If it is not published, the application is treated as abandoned.
4. Opposition: third parties have 30 business days from publication to oppose.
5. Examination: INAPI examines the mark on substance and accepts or rejects it.
6. Registration: after the final registration fee is paid, the mark is registered.

Term, renewal and use

• A registration lasts 10 years from the date it is granted and can be renewed for further 10-year periods.
• A mark that is not genuinely used in Chile for five years after registration can be cancelled for non-use (Law 21,355).

Who can apply

Any individual or company, Chilean or foreign. Register your brand early, ideally when you set up your company, so a third party cannot register it first.

How a company is set up in Chile

1. Choose the company type. Most foreign founders use the SpA.
2. If you are abroad, sign a power of attorney, apostilled and translated into Spanish, so a person in Chile can act for you.
3. Sign the incorporation deed before a notary, or form the company online in the Registro de Empresas y Sociedades.
4. Register the extract in the Commercial Registry and publish it in the Diario Oficial (both are automatic on the online registry).
5. Obtain the company’s RUT and file the start of activities (inicio de actividades) with the SII.
6. Bring in the capital and open a corporate bank account.
7. Set up electronic invoicing, monthly Form 29 filings and payroll.

Full guide: how to set up a company in Chile.

Get help from Easyco

Easyco coordinates the company setup in Chile up to the issue of the RUT, and supports companies afterwards with tax, accounting and payroll. Contact us to discuss your project.

• Company setup up to the issue of the RUT
• Providing a registered office address
• Tax and accounting
• Payroll