Trademark registration in Chile

Chile is a country with an open economic policy to attract and encourage the arrival of the largest number of investors to the country. Thanks to this, Chile has managed to spark the interest of many looking to establish their businesses in Latin American territory. This is why an essential part to establishing a company is being able to register the trademark of such commerce.

By registering your company’s trademark, you can ensure security and prevent other people from taking the name, using it, and profiting from it. In addition to avoiding identical or similar trademarks.

1. What is trademark registration?

We can say that trademark registration is a process in which your trademark is given national protection, besides differentiating your product and/or service.

As a result, your trademark will be legally protected and you will be granted exclusive rights for its invention for 10 years, this time can be extended in the course of time, if you wish.

2. Benefits of registering your trademark:

It is important to mention that trademark registration gives legal protection to the trademark owner.

Therefore, you can prevent unfair competitors from using the same or similar signs; and if the case arises, you may take penal actions or civil actions for indemnification for the unauthorized use of your trademark. You could even request the nullity of registration already granted.

3. What can you register as a trademark?

You have the possibility of registering as a trademark any word or expression, name, nickname, letters, numbers, images, symbols, and graphics; as well as the option of being able to combine the options.

According to the National Institute of Industrial Property – INAPI, we have the following types:

Trademark of products: It can be represented by graphic representations with the purpose of being recognized in the market and being differentiated from others of the same category.
Service trademark: It can be represented by graphic representations to identify the service in the market and differentiate it from competitors that offer the same or similar services.
Trademark of production establishment: It is used to protect the name of a company in charge of the production of certain goods. In this case, the production activity is protected, rather than the name of the goods produced.
Trademark of commercial establishment: It is used to protect the name of a company that trades certain products, here the activity of commercialization is protected more than the products.
Advertising phrase: This protects those phrases or expressions that accompany the registered trademark. These phrases help to promote a good by giving it positive attributes or qualities. They are not included in the label.
Sound mark: It is used to protect those sounds that can identify a business origin.
Collective mark: They can be a graphic representation that helps to differentiate the origin, material, manufacture, and other common characteristics of the goods and/or services produced and/or provided by the members of a company.
Certification mark: These are those signs that differentiate a trademark and indicate that the product or service complies with a set of standards and has been certified by the relevant authority.

4. How to register a trademark in Chile?

We will mention the steps to follow to register a trademark:

First, you must check if the trademark is registrable, in that sense, the trademark to be registered must not induce deception or error, nor be similar to others already registered or previously applied for.
Once the trademark has been reviewed, the application must be filed at the INAPI office or online.

4.1. INAPI Office

INAPI stands for Instituto Nacional de Propiedad Industrial, and its the government’s office in charge of the administration of industrial property. If you go to the INAPI office, you must submit the form in typed handwriting. After that, you must pay an initial fee in the single tax account and complete Form N° 10 which is about Tax Revenue, this payment must be made at a bank or tax collecting institution.

4.2. Online

On the other hand, if you wish to do the procedure online, you must log in to the INAPI portal and enter the application form. In this modality, the initial fee must be paid through an electronic transaction. It is also important to point out that, in order to register a trademark, you must have your unique password. When you enter this platform, you must complete an electronic form.

One of the most important parts of this registration is to classify your trademark according to the International Nice Classification – WIPO, which will determine the value associated with the application.

Finally, after filing the application, you must follow up with INAPI for further analysis.

Once the application has been accepted, the applicant must request and pay for the publication of the trademark application in the Official Gazette within 20 working days of acceptance. After the publication, from that date onwards, third parties have 30 working days to oppose the application for registration.

5. What information is requested during registration?

INAPI requests the following:

Information on the characteristics of the trademark, in addition to the nature of the trademark
Information about the applicant
If necessary, a signed power of attorney may also be requested
The payment order
In case it is a label, you must submit 6 samples of your trademark design. Minimum size of 5x5cm up to a maximum of 20x20cm is requested.

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Get Assistance from Easyco Experts!

If you are setting up your company in Chile, remember that trademark registration is an important step to protect the identity of your company; get in touch with our local experts to receive assistance with this.