Possibly one of the first steps when starting a business is precisely to design your brand, that is, to create the ideal logo and name that will identify you in the market and this action will allow the construction and development of your business, whether it be the sale of goods or services, because you have already defined who you are. At the beginning your brand will probably seem like the least valuable asset in your business, you would even think that your inventory has more value, but on the contrary, despite being an intangible asset, it is the most valuable asset that will exist in your company, since every day your brand will be creating its own space and it will be made, known and the day it becomes what you were waiting for so much, it will not be the day you should consider protecting it, instead from the beginning you must protect it because it is the only thing that It will provide you with the support and legal security before third parties.
In Nicaragua, the competent authority that protects this right is the Intellectual Property Registry through the Ministry of Development, Industry and Commerce. Law 380 Law on Trademarks and other Distinctive Signs and its reform are the norms in charge of regulating all trademark aspects.
The regulatory framework of Intellectual Property is complete and provides the procedure, rates and deadlines to comply with the due registration process. The application for registration of your trademark must be submitted to said authority, prior payment to the Secretariat of the Intellectual Property Registry, which will start a series of examinations that the authority will carry out. The first thing will be the Form Exam to confirm that the application complies with the provisions of articles 10 and 11 of the Law related to priority rights and general elements such as your personal information, or your company, what type of trademark is requested, and whether it is denominative, or a reproduction of it when it has a special spelling, shape or color, or it is a figurative, mixed or three-dimensional trademark with or without color, and finally a list of the products or services for which the trademark is to be registered, without forgetting the respective proof of payment.
Once the above is completed, the Intellectual Property registry will notify the interested party of the publication notice that must be submitted to the Official Gazette at the expense of the interested party for a single time in a period of 15 business days. It must be verified that the notice contains the following information: a) The name and address of the applicant; b) The name of the legal representative or attorney-in-fact, when applicable; c) The date of presentation of the application; d) The application number; e) The name or reproduction of the trademark whose registration is requested; f) The list of products or services that the brand will protect, and the Class or Classes according to the Nice Classification; g) The type of trademark; and h) Date of issue and effective date.
Once the registration request has been published in the Official Gazette, it is important that the entrepreneur knows the 30-day period, as it is a month during which any interested third party can oppose the trademark, presenting with their opposition the grounds of fact and right on which it is based, accompanying or offering the relevant evidence. In the event that the stipulated period cannot be met, an extension for 15 business days may be submitted prior to the specified term.
At the end of the period for filing oppositions, the Registry, through the substantive examination, will analyze whether the trademark falls within any of the prohibitions of Article 7 and some of the cases provided for in paragraphs a), b) d) and g) of Article 8, to which we previously referred and what constitutes the Substantive Examination.
If everything is correct and the parameters indicated by law are met, the Registry proceeds to the registration of the trademark and will issue a certificate stating the ownership and validity of the requested trademark, which will be published in the Official Gazette. The process is relatively simple, we recommend being attentive to each of its stages and applicable notifications, finally remembering that the payment of the fees according to articles 9 subsection 6 and 19 must be anticipated.
The registration of your trademark will confer on you as the owner and will have the right to prohibit third parties from using it and to exercise before the jurisdictional bodies the corresponding actions and measures against whoever infringes your right.
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