Título I. Normas comunes

This Law has as its object the protection, encouragement and promotion of intellectual creativity applicable in the field of industry and commerce and, in particular, matters relating to the acquisition, maintenance and protection of distinctive signs, invention patents and utility models and industrial designs, as well as the protection of trade secrets and provisions related to combating unfair competition.

Any person, whether natural or juridical, whatever their nationality, domicile or activity may be, may acquire and enjoy the rights granted by this law.

Natural or juridical persons, nationals of another State bound to Guatemala by a treaty establishing national treatment for Guatemalans, or those having their domicile or a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in that State, shall enjoy treatment no less favorable than that granted to Guatemalans, with respect to the acquisition, maintenance, protection and exercise of the rights established by this law or with respect to those established in the future.

For the purposes of this law the following shall be understood to mean:

denominación de origen [appellation of origin]: any name, expression, image or sign that designates or evokes a region, a locality or a specific place, that identifies a product originating from that specific region, locality or place, when its quality or characteristics are due fundamentally or exclusively to the geographical environment, including natural and human factors, and whose production, transformation and processing are carried out within the delimited geographical area.

official gazette: it is constituted by the official publication medium of the State. industrial design: comprises both drawings and industrial models. The former shall be understood as any combination of figures, lines or colors incorporated into an industrial or artisanal product for ornamental purposes and giving it a particular and distinctive appearance; and the latter as any three-dimensional form serving as a type or pattern for the manufacture of an industrial product, giving it a special appearance and having no functional technical purposes.

emblem: a figurative sign that identifies and distinguishes an enterprise, a commercial establishment or an entity.

advertising expression or sign: any legend, announcement, phrase, combination of words, design, engraving or any other similar means, provided it is original and characteristic, used for the purpose of attracting the attention of consumers or users to one or more products, services, enterprises or commercial establishments.

geographical indication: any name, expression, image or sign or combination thereof identifying a product as originating from a Country, a region or a locality of that Country, when a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the product is essentially attributable to its geographical origin and the link with the delimited area is present in at least one of the stages of its production, transformation or processing.

invention: any human creation that makes it possible to transform matter or energy existing in nature, for its exploitation by man and to satisfy his specific needs.

mark:

collective mark:

certification mark:

utility model:

trade name:

patent:

procedure:

product:

trade secret: Any sign capable of distinguishing the products or services produced, marketed or provided by a natural person or legal person, from other identical or similar products or services produced, marketed or provided by another person.

that whose holder is a legal person grouping persons authorized by the holder to use the mark.

a mark applied to products or services whose characteristics or quality have been controlled and certified by the holder of the mark.

any improvement or innovation in the form, configuration or arrangement of elements of an object, or of a part thereof, providing it with some technical effect in its manufacture, operation or use.

a denominative or mixed sign with which an enterprise, a commercial establishment or an entity is identified and distinguished.

the title granted by the State protecting the right of the inventor or holder with respect to an invention, whose effects and scope are determined by this law with respect to patentable subject matter, means, inter alia, any method, operation or set of operations or application or use of a product.

with respect to patentable subject matter, means, inter alia, any substance, composition, material (including biological), apparatus, machine or other tangible item or a part thereof.

any undisclosed information held by a natural person or legal person, which may be used in any productive, industrial, commercial or service activity, and which is capable of being transmitted to a third party.

distinctive sign: Any sign constituting a mark, a trade name, an emblem, an advertising expression or sign, a geographical indication or an appellation of origin.

well-known distinctive sign: any sign known by the relevant sector of the public, or in business circles, as identifying specific products, services or establishments and which has acquired such knowledge through its use in the country or as a consequence of promotion of the sign, whatever the manner by which it has become known.

Register: the Intellectual Property Register. *Amended by Article 1 of Decree Number 3-2013 on 26-06-2013.

Without prejudice to the special requirements established for each case by this law, every application must be addressed to the Register and comply, as pertinent, with the provisions of Articles 61 and 62 of the Civil and Commercial Procedural Code.

All applications and other administrative proceedings submitted in accordance with this law shall be processed and decided by the Registry.

In the first action taken, the authority of the person representing the applicant must be accredited. Where the applicant or the holder of an industrial property right is domiciled or has its seat outside the country, such applicant or holder shall be represented by an agent under a mandate domiciled in Guatemala, who shall be an attorney with active bar membership.

The agent under a mandate shall have sufficient powers to represent the principal in all matters and actions relating to the acquisition, maintenance and protection of the rights governed by this Law. For such purposes, such agent must be vested with the special powers of judicial agents under a mandate, in accordance with the provisions established for that purpose by the Law of the Judicial Branch. If the agent under a mandate does not have such powers, such agent shall be deemed vested therewith by operation of law.

In serious and urgent cases determined by the Registry, the acting of an attorney as voluntary agent for the interested party may be admitted. Nevertheless, the acting of an attorney as voluntary agent may not be rejected in the following cases:

a)In the filing and answer of oppositions;

b)Where the Registry or this Law establish a time limit for performing a specific act, if non-compliance may affect the rights of the person required; and

c)In the filing of applications for registration and renewal of distinctive signs.

In any event, the voluntary agent shall furnish sufficient security as determined by the Registry, to answer for the outcome of the matter if the interested party does not approve what was done on its behalf. It shall not be necessary to furnish security if the agent has filed and maintains in force a bond issued by a legally authorized bonding entity and issued in favor of the Registry, covering the liabilities of such agent as voluntary agent for the amount set by the regulations under this Law.

The amendment or correction of two or more applications or registrations may be requested in a single request, provided that the amendment or correction is the same for all of them.

The registration of transfers relating to two or more applications or registrations may likewise be requested by means of a single request, provided that the transferor and the acquirer are the same in all of them. This provision shall apply, as pertinent, to the registration of licenses and of changes of name or denomination of the holder.

For purposes of the provisions of this article, the petitioner shall identify each of the applications or registrations in which the amendment, correction or registration is to be made and, in all cases, shall further submit a copy of the respective request for addition to each file. The corresponding fees shall be paid based on the number of applications or titles affected.

Except in those cases in which the contrary is expressly established, the time limits established in this law are non-extendable.

When an application relating to the renunciation or voluntary cancellation of a registered right is filed, the document shall contain the holder's signature legalized by a notary and, if any right in favor of a third party is registered, registration shall proceed only if the written consent of that third party with legalized signature is on record.

The effects of the declaration of absolute nullity of a patent or a registration shall be retroactive to the date of the respective application, without prejudice to the conditions or exceptions established in the decision declaring the nullity.

The declaration of annulment of a patent or a registration shall take effect from the date of summons of the defendant. When bringing the action for annullability, the legitimate holder shall have the right to claim the distinctive sign, invention or design and to be indemnified for the damage and losses caused to him by the defendant.

Except in those cases in which a specific time limit is established, applications filed in accordance with this law shall be deemed abandoned and shall lapse by operation of law when the interested party fails to comply with what is required of the interested party by the Register, within a time limit of six months, counted from the last notification made to the interested party. Abandonment shall cause the loss of priority and the archiving of the application on its own initiative, without need for any declaration.

Against the final decisions of the Registry, the application for revocation may be filed, which shall be filed and processed in the manner determined by the Law on Contentious Administrative Matters.

The applicant may, at any time during the procedure, modify its application to restrict the scope of protection requested and to correct errors contained in the initial application or the documents annexed thereto. The modification must be requested in writing with a signature legalized by a notary, to which proof of payment of the corresponding fee must be attached.

Each fractional application shall retain the filing date of the initial application and the right of priority, where applicable.

The applicant may withdraw its application at any time during the procedure, by means of a written petition with signature legalized by a notary. Once approved, the withdrawal of an application shall take effect from its presentation in the Register and shall not give right to reimbursement of the fees that had been paid.

The withdrawal of an application terminates the administrative procedure, produces the extinction of the rights that originated from the filing date thereof and shall result in the archiving of the file.

The invention subject of a withdrawn application shall pass into the public domain, provided it has been published in accordance with this law.