Practice area
Trademarks & Patents
Registration and defense of trademarks, patents, designs and copyright: protect your intellectual property.
What this area covers
- Trademark registration feasibility studies
- Trademark registration
- Opposition to trademark registration
- Trademark renewals
- Trademark transfers
- Trademark holder name changes
- Trademark license agreements
- Trademark franchise agreements
- Trademark infringement notices
- Patents and utility models
- Integrated circuit layout designs
- Industrial design
- Geographical indications
- Appellations of origin
- New work registration
- Copyright
- Licensing
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to register a trademark in Chile?
Around six months if nobody opposes it, according to INAPI itself. Registration lasts ten years and is renewable for equal periods, indefinitely (Law 19.039, as amended by Law 21.355). The application is published in the Official Gazette, and that publication opens the window for a third party to oppose.
Someone is using my business name — what can I do?
It depends on whether a trademark is registered, and by whom. If the other party's application is still pending, an opposition can be filed within thirty days of its publication in the Official Gazette — a strict, non-extendable deadline. If it is already registered, the route is annulment; and if the trademark is yours, the infringement actions of Law 19.039.
Does registering the web domain protect my brand name?
No. Domains are registered with NIC Chile and trademarks with INAPI: separate registries, separate rules. Holding the .cl does not stop someone else from registering the trademark, and it is the trademark that gives you grounds to claim a domain. Doing both is the sensible route — and in that order if you have to choose.
This is general information about Chilean law, not advice on a specific case: deadlines and requirements change with the facts.
Other practice areas
Need counsel in Trademarks & Patents?
Tell us what happened and we will tell you whether we can help and how. Santiago and Valparaíso, Monday to Friday.