Trademarks In Latin America

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9789294609021
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (9 download)

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Download or read book Latin America IP SME Helpdesk written by and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scaling up a business at an international level and seeking new markets for trading products are goals that any SME pursues or aims to achieve, and a good signal that your goods or services are demanded in other parts of the world. However, internationalising a business could imply some difficulties that should be addressed before placing your products into a foreign marketplace. Otherwise, the whole process could turn less cost-efficient or even fail. In this factsheet, we will focus on a crucial aspect that should be considered when selling your products or services abroad: the protection of your trade mark at an international level. A trade mark is a distinctive sign that allows to distinguish your goods and services from those of your competitors; it provides a source of origin and gives the right to prevent others from using it without your authorisation. Trade marks are characterised for being territorial. That means that the rights they confer are only valid if they concern the country in which the registration has been obtained. Therefore, a trade mark registered before the EUIPO is only protected in the 27 countries of the European Union but not in the rest of the countries (e.g. Latin American countries). There is an exception to the principle of territoriality in Latin America. The Andean Community legislation (in force in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru) includes two features of particular interest: the "Andean Opposition" (providing any owner with a registered or filed trade mark in a single country, like Colombia, with the grounds to file an opposition to a trade mark application in any other country, like Ecuador) and the "Andean Use" (enabling the owner of a trade mark in one country, like Bolivia, to claim such use against any third party pursuing a cancellation action against this trade mark in a different country, like Peru). If you are in the process of expanding your business to Latin America, you should take into account the following useful advice regarding some issues concerning the registration of your trade mark abroad so as to succeed in your endeavors.