Law 20-00 Archives - Guzmán Ariza | The Dominican Republic Law Firm

Registering a Patent in the Dominican Republic

Patent registration in the Dominican Republic is governed by Law 20-00 on Industrial Property.

To start the process, the following information and documents are required:

1. Applicant’s full name, address, occupation, and identity document (copy).

2. Inventor’s full name, address, occupation, and identity document (copy).

3. If the applicant is not the inventor, deed of assignment of the invention, authenticated at the nearest Dominican Consulate or apostilled.

4. Title to the invention or utility model.

5. Power of Attorney granted to the local representative, authenticated at the nearest Dominican Consulate or apostilled.

6. Two copies of the description. As for the description itself, it must depict the invention in such clear and complete terms so as to allow for its evaluation, as well as permit any person skilled in the art to which it pertains to be able to use it. The description of the invention shall state the name of the invention and shall include the following information: (a) the technological, agricultural, scientific or other field to which the invention refers to or applies; (b) the previous technology known to the applicant that may be considered useful for understanding and examining the invention, and any reference to previous documents and publications related to said technology; c) a description of how the invention provides a solution to a certain technical problem, and the advantages of this invention compared to previous inventions that solved the same problems;(d) a brief description of the drawings, if applicable; (e) the best way known by the inventor to execute or implement the invention using examples and making references to the drawings; (f) the manner in which the invention is capable of industrial application, unless clearly evident from the description or nature of the invention;

When the invention relates to biological material that cannot be described in a manner that enables any person skilled in the subject area to use the invention, and when such material is not available to the public, the description shall be supplemented by depositing such material at an institution designated by the National Office for Intellectual Property. This must be indicated in the description, along with the name and address of the deposit institution, the date of deposit and the receipt number.

7. One or more claims. The subject matter for which protection is sought through a patent is described by claims. The claims must be clear and concise and shall be entirely supported by the description. The claims shall contain: (a) a preamble that defines the object of the invention (this preamble shall include all known aspects of the invention considered to be state of the art); and (b) a description of the elements that make the invention novel, focusing on the aspects you want to protect.

Each main claim may be followed by one or more dependent claims, with reference to the main claim and specifying the additional features to be protected.

8. Drawings. The applicant shall furnish a drawing whenever necessary for the understanding, evaluation and use of the invention submitted for a patent.

9. Summary. The summary shall include a synthesis of the information disclosed in the description, an outline of claims and drawings, and, if applicable, the chemical formula or drawing best characterizing the invention. The summary shall facilitate the undestanding of the technical problem and solution contributed by the invention, as well as the principal use of the invention. The summary shall be for technical information and publication purposes, and shall not be used to determine or interpret the scope of the protection granted by the patent

10. Date, number and filing office of any patent application or of any other type of protection that has been filed, or of registration issued by another country which refers, in whole or in part, to the same invention claimed in an application filed in the Dominican Republic or abroad.

11. Certified copy of foreign applications for the same patent, authenticated at the nearest Dominican Consulate or apostilled, in case of claiming priority rights (PCT Applications).

12. Electronic copies of the description, abstract, claims, drawings, or nucleotide sequences that were provided on paper.

The above documents must be provided as originals, unless otherwise specfied, and translated into Spanish. English and Spanish versions must be authenticated or apostilled separately.

Registering a Trademark in the Dominican Republic

Trademark registration in the Dominican Republic is governed by Law 20-00 on Industrial Property.

The process to register a trademark is as follows:

(1) Preliminary searches are optional to determine if the mark requested is available for registration in the desired class, under the international classification of goods and services. The search may take up to 5 business days. If time is a factor, faster service is available for a higher fee.

(2) If the search results do not preclude the registration of the mark, the applicant may proceed to file a petition to record the mark. Government fees must be paid in full with the filing.

(3) If the application complies with the legal requirements, the National Office of Industrial Property (ONAPI) will allow the petitioner to pay for the publication of an excerpt of the application in its Journal. Third parties have 45 days from the date of publication in the Journal to file an opposition to the application. If the application is not opposed within 45 days, or if the opposition is rejected, the Office will issue the Certificate of Registration, which is valid for 10 years and may be renewed. The whole process, without opposition and including the search, takes approximately 4 to 5 months.

To proceed to file the petition for registration, the applicant must provide the following information and documents:

(1) Full name and address of the applicant.

(2) Power-of-attorney signed by the applicant, authenticated at the nearest Dominican Consulate or apostilled. The original copy of this document should be sent to us, since it is required to be filed jointly with the trademark application.

(3) Description of the goods and services covered by the mark, grouped by classes, according to the international classification of goods and services.

(4) If the application is to be based on a foreign registration, a certified copy of such registration, authenticated at the nearest Dominican Consulate.

(5) If a design is to be filed, 6 samples of the design of at least 6 in. x 6 in. (15 cm. x 15 cm.) in size.

(6) If the applicant is an individual copies of his/her passport’s first page and Identification Card. If the foreign applicants are companies, copies of the company’s incorporation certificate and passport of its signing legal representative (President, Vice President, etc…). (No authentication needed)

(7) Copy of the Trademark’s certificate of registration in the foreign country, even if the registration is not going to be based directly on a foreign registration. (No authentication needed).

Intellectual Property

Trademark Registration in the Dominican Republic

Trademark registration in the Dominican Republic is governed by Law 20-00 on Industrial Property. (You may find the text of the statute, in English, in our website.

The process to register a trademark is as follows:

(2) If the search results do not preclude the registration of the mark, in case the preliminary search has been requested, the applicant may proceed to file a petition to record the mark. Government fees must be paid in full with this filing.

The whole process, without opposition and including the search, takes approximately 4 to 5 months.

To proceed to file the petition for registration, the applicant must provide the following information and documents:

(1) Full name and address of the applicant.

(2) Power-of-attorney signed by the applicant, authenticated at the nearest Dominican Consulate (see attachment), or apostilled. The original copy of this document should be sent to us, since it is required to be filed jointly with the trademark application.

(3) Description of the goods and services covered by the mark, grouped by classes, according to the international classification of goods and services.

(4) If the application is to be based on a foreign registration, a certified copy of such registration, authenticated at the nearest Dominican Consulate, or apostilled.

(5) If a design is to be filed, 6 samples of the design of at least 6 in. x 6 in. (15 cm. x 15 cm.) in size.

(7) Copy of the trademark’s certificate of registration in the foreign country, even if the registration is not going to be based directly on a foreign registration. (No authentication needed).