The current trademark regulations in Argentina are mainly based on the Trademark and Markings Law promulgated on December 26, 1980, which was revised on January 10, 2018. The Argentine National Institute of Industrial Property is responsible for managing intellectual property affairs, and the official language is Spanish. Trademark exclusive rights need to be obtained through registration. Trademark registration is not mandatory, but in order to protect the trademark or renew it, it must be registered in accordance with the law. The Argentine trademark registration adopts the principle of "application first", but in some cases, trademark rights can also be claimed based on "prior use".
Argentina is a party to international intellectual property treaties such as the TRIPS Agreement, Paris Convention, Nice Agreement, WIPO Convention, and Nairobi Treaty, and has not yet joined the Madrid System. Therefore, trademark registration can only be processed through "single country registration".
At present, the National Industrial Property Office of Argentina adopts the Nice Classification 11th edition for the description of goods and services and does not accept applications with multiple categories in one table. The elements that can be registered as trademarks in Argentina include: text, name, graphics, three-dimensional identification, color combination, slogan, sound, smell, dynamic image, etc. Among them, sound, smell, and dynamic image need to meet specific requirements when applying for registration.
If the applicant does not reside in Argentina, they must entrust a specialized agent in their home country to handle the matter. The basic materials required for trademark application are:
1. Trademark design;
2. Category and specific product items;
3. Name and address of the applicant;
4. Power of attorney;
5.If priority is declared, priority proof documents and corresponding Spanish translations must be provided. The translated documents must also be signed and confirmed by professional translators with translation qualifications in the country.
The main process for applying for registration of an Argentine trademark is: application acceptance announcement examination approval issuance. After the application is submitted, the State Administration of Industrial Property conducts a formal examination, mainly examining whether the application materials and classification information comply with the regulations. Generally, it takes about 2 weeks to complete the acceptance. After acceptance, an announcement will be arranged, with a 30 day objection period from the announcement date. Any interested party or prior rights holder may raise objections, and the main reasons for raising objections are:
1. Conflict with prior trademarks, such as owning a prior registered trademark;
2. The trademark lacks distinctiveness;
3. The trademark has adverse effects;
4. Malicious registration;
5. Conflict with other prior rights, such as trade name rights, design rights, copyrights, personal names, etc;
6. The slogan trademark lacks originality.
If there is no objection or objection is not established during the announcement period, the State Administration of Industrial Property will conduct substantive examination of the trademark, including examination of the distinctiveness of the trademark, whether it violates the prohibition and prohibition clauses, and whether it conflicts with the prior trademark. After passing the examination, it can be approved for registration and a registration certificate will be issued; If the review fails, a rejection notice will be issued and the applicant will be required to respond within the time limit specified in the rejection notice. In a smooth situation, trademark registration in Argentina takes about 1 and a half years; If things don't go smoothly and there are objections or rejections along the way, the time will be greatly extended, possibly taking 3-5 years.
The Argentine trademark is valid for 10 years after registration, starting from the date of registration; Renewal can be processed within 6 months before the expiration date, with a grace period of 6 months; The renewal is valid for 10 years.
The invalidation or revocation application after trademark registration can generally be filed in accordance with the following two provisions of the Trademark and Markings Law:
Article 24: (1) Those who violate the provisions of this law; (2) If it is known or should have been known that someone else has prior rights when applying for a trademark, the application may be invalidated.
Article 26: If a trademark is not actually used in that country for five consecutive years after registration, anyone may apply for revocation; Except for force majeure.