What is the procedure for registering a trademark in Colombia?; What services does Cárdenas Vega Advisors offer in relation to the procedure for registration of my brand?
The trademark registration is an administrative process that takes place with the Superintendent’s Office of Industry and Commerce and consists of the following steps: 1) Submission of application, 2) Form examination 3) Publication 4) Opposition of third parties and 5) Background examination.
This process takes approximately ten (10) months, if there are no obstacles such as opposition from third parties.
Our firm has experienced professionals who will assist you during all stages of the process of trademark registration; i.e. prior to the start of the process, during the process and after you obtain the registration certificate or diploma attesting you as owner of your brand.
Before proceeding with the registration process, it is advisable to conduct a trademark search history in order to determine whether there are potential obstacles to the registration of the trademark of interest. From the results obtained, within a period not exceeding 24 hours, Cárdenas Vega Advisors will give a full analysis to establish the feasibility of getting your brand and the various measures that can be taken before starting the registration stage.
By hiring our services, during all stages of trademark registration, our firm will provide personalized service through regular reports of the status of your process until we physically send the registration certificate attesting you as holder of the brand of interest.
In addition, your trademark portfolio will be carefully guarded during the term against third parties seeking to usurp it, since we have technology systems that allow us to compare the brands of our customers with new applications for registration of distinctive signs and the registration of new companies or establishments in all the Chambers of Commerce of Colombia.
What is the validity term of a trademark?
The validity of a trademark is 10 years from the date of grant, which can be renewable indefinitely for similar periods.
What is the International Nice Classification?; How do I determine in which categories to register my trademark?
When registering a trademark you must specify what kind of products or services it is intended to identify with. The International Nice Classification is a system of classification of goods and services, adopted by most countries that applies for trademark registration and allows you to specify the precise coverage of the sign of interest.
According to the provisions of the Nice International Classification there are 45 classes of goods and services. The protection given to a trademark is granted only to products or specified at the moment of registration, so two identical brands can coexist in different classes of goods or services.
Each class of goods or services to be protected is susceptible to payment of official rates to the competent national office. Therefore, a greater investment equals a greater protection.
When applying for a search of trademark records (analysis of registrability) you need to indicate what products and services you wish to protect with the brand of interest. Thus, our firm will inform you in which classes you should register your brand and which products or services must be included in each class.
Want to learn more about the International Nice Classification? Click here.
What documents are needed to apply for a trademark registration in Colombia?
Only a document of power, which will be supplied by our firm, is required. This in turn must be signed by the applicant, if the case of a natural person, or the legal representative, in the case of a legal person.
It should be noted that the signing of power does not require authentication nor notary legalization or an “apostille”. Contact us.