Trade Marks and Patents Registrations:
The Republic of Panama is a member of The World Commerce Organisation and it is a signatory of multiple International agreements that regulate the registry of Trade Marks and Patents as well as industrial and intellectual property. Among the services that our office can offer during this procedure include registration and trade marks opposition.
Trade Marks
Among the most important things to register a trade mark or patent under the laws of the Republic of Panama, and therefore to be a beneficiary of the international agreements subscribed thereto, are:
- Power of attorney in favour of the person who exercises the legal representation of the company. If it is a juridical person or the holder of the trade mark is a natural person, this power of attorney should be completed in the presence of a public notary and should include the corresponding legalisations. Depending on the country this may be apostilled or legalised by the consular officer of the country in the domicile of the empowered.
- The empowered should have a recorded statement of the entitled right of the trade mark or patent that needs to be registered.
- Certification of the title from the country of origin of the trade mark. If there is a previous registration or if the trade mark has not been registered yet our legislation allows it together with a certified copy of the foreign registration request. In this case the final registration needs to be credited afterwards otherwise the registration request in the Republic of Panama will expire within a year from the date it was presented.
- When the Trade Mark has a special design a copy of it should be included together with an explanation.
- The Trade Marks can be registered for a period of 5 to 10 years.
Patents
The law establishes that any natural or juridical person, any Panamanian or foreign person has the right to obtain an invention patent which ensures his/her exclusive usage on such an invention for a maximum term of 20 years in the case of Panamanian patents and 15 years if they are foreign patents.
Foreign Patents are those whose confirmation or revalidation does not exceed 15 years. If the foreign patent right is less than 15 years, the registration of such a patent will be issued for the exact amount of years that it was originally issued. In the event that it is a pharmaceutical patent the registration will be issued for 5 years without extensions.
The requirements for the registry of an invention patent in the Republic of Panama are the following:
- Inventor’s Power of Attorney. In the event that he/she has passed the rights to a company this Power of Attorney should be given by its legal representative and authorised by the inventor, meaning that the signature of both of them will be needed, the inventor’s signature and the signature of the legal representative of the company to which the invention was given to.
- Two authentic copies in the Spanish language of the specifications of the invention and its release.
- Designs and drawings of the invention.
- Patent from the country of origin or certified copy of the request of registration in the country of origin. In this case the final registration should be credited afterwards, otherwise the request in the Republic of Panama will expire within a year of the date it was presented.
- All the foreign documents should be translated into the Spanish language and its legalisation can be done through existing agreements (Apostille).
