Jul 27, 2022 (Newsletter Issue 10/22)Guidelines on Examination of 3D Marks IssuedOn 13 May 2022, the Court of Justice of the Andean Community published Interpretation No. 81-IP-2020 on the examination of 3D marks. The new guidelines clarify that 3D marks may consist only of shapes or be a combination of shapes and additional elements and describe the different elements that the Andean Community’s IP Offices (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru) must consider when examining these marks. These guidelines are important as they recognize the protection of 3D marks and harmonize how IP offices of the Andean Community examine these applications.
For more information and examples, please click here
Source: Bermeo & Bermeo Law Firm, Ecuador, see INTA Bulletin of 22 June 2022 May 31, 2016 (Newsletter Issue 10/16)
IP Procedures Optimised
The Ecuadorian Institute of Intellectual Property (IEPI) has launched a program for the optimisation and automatization of procedures within the framework of the National Plan for the Simplification of Procedures. The new online processes will speed up the applications and registrations filed before the IEPI and reduce the response times.
Processes and response times for trademark, slogan and trade name registrations should be reduced to six months. Additionally, the response time for distinctive sign oppositions will be reduced to nine months.
The IEPI has also reported that the number of requirements for the inscription of the following contracts will be reduced: databases, computer programs, audio-visual works, literary works and phonograms. The response time for these processes will be one day.
Source: ww.moellerip.com, www.propiedadintelectual.gob.ec
Oct 25, 2011 (Newsletter Issue 12/11)
Term Extension to File Oppositions No Longer Accepted
The Ecuadorian Trademark Office has decided to eliminate the possibility of term extensions to file opposition (under Resolution No. 11-029 P-IEPI), in concordance with the Andean Community Regulations.
As from July 2011, the Ecuadorian Trademark Office has decided to eliminate exensions of terms to file oppositions against trademark applications, considering that there was a contradiction between the national and the community regulations.
The Decision 486 of the Andean Community does not include the possibility of requesting extensions of terms to file oppositions, against the Ecuadorian Trademark Law which accepts this exception.
In light of the above, the Ecuadorian Trademark Office has concluded that the community regulation must prevail on the national one. Therefore, extensions will no longer be granted in Ecuador to file oppositions.
Source: Moeller IP Advisors, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Jul 12, 2010 (Newsletter Issue 12/10)
Official Fees Increased
The Ecuadorian Institute of Intellectual Property has increased the official registration fees and opposition fees effective by June 1st, 2010.
The official fee for a trademark application is USD 116.- (approx. EUR 92.-) including the issuance of the title.
There is no longer any requirement to pay for the issuance of the registration title; it will be included in the one-off fee for applications.
The registration fees of three-dimensional trademarks are much higher compared to other trademark registration fees with USD 336.- (approx. EUR 266.-).
Source: www.iloinfo.com
The legal basis of Intellectual Property in Ecuador is the Social Economy of Knowledge, Creativity, and Innovation Organic Code, enacted in December 2016 (“Ecuadorian IP Law”) derivate regulations, and the Andean Community Decision no. 486 concerning intellectual property (“Decision 486”), Andean Community Decision 351 (copy rights)
Ecuador is a member of the Andean Community. Andean Community Decision no. 486 contains common rules on Trademark Law in all member states (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru).
Trademark protection is obtained by registration.
Andean Community Decision 351 contains common regulations related to copyright law in all member states (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru)
Nice classification, 12th edition
Under Ecuadorian regulations, all signs capable to distinguish a product or a service and that can be graphically representable can be registered as a trademark. Meaning that trademarks can be composed by, words, the combination of words, images, figures, symbols, letters, numbers, sounds, flavors, devices, emblems, holograms, colors (limited by specific form), combinations or shades of colors, three-dimensional forms, the three-dimensional form of a good or its packaging, trade dress, sound marks, and olfactory marks and any combination of the above.
Cannot be registered as a trademark, signs that are immerse in the following prohibitions:
1. Lack distinctiveness
2. Consist exclusively of the usual shapes of the goods or their packaging, or of shapes or characteristics imposed by the nature or function of the goods or services in question
3.Consist exclusively of shapes or other elements that give a functional or technical advantage to the goods or services to which they are applied
4. Consist exclusively of a sign or indication that may serve in trade to describe the quality, quantity, destination, value, geographical origin, time of production, or other data, characteristics, or information about the goods or services for which the sign or indication is to be used sign or indication, including laudatory expressions referring to those goods or services
5. Consist exclusively of a sign or indication that is the generic or technical name of the
good or service in question
6. Consist exclusively of or have become a common or customary designation for the product or
service in question in the everyday language or usage of the country
7. Consist of a color considered in isolation, without being delimited by a specific shape.
8. May mislead the trade or the public, in particular as to the geographical origin, the nature, the method of manufacture, the characteristics, qualities, or fitness for use of the products or services in question
10. Reproduce, imitate, or contain a protected designation of origin for the same products or for different products, when its use could cause a risk of confusion or association with the designation; or involve unfair exploitation of its reputation
11. Contain a protected designation of origin for wines and spirits
12. Reproduce or imitate, without the permission of the competent authorities, either as trademarks or as elements of such trademarks, the name, coats of arms, flags, and emblems of States and any imitation from a heraldic point of view, as well as the coats of arms, flags, and other emblems, acronyms, or names of any international organization. However, these signs may be registered when they do not lead to confusion about the existence of a link between the applicant and the state or organization in question
13. Reproduce or imitate, without the permission of the competent authorities, either as trademarks or as elements of such trademarks, the official control or guarantee marks, stamps, or hallmarks adopted by States when their use could cause a risk of confusion or association
14. Reproduce or imitate the name of the State.
15. Reproduce or imitate signs of conformity with technical standards, unless their registration is requested by the competent national body for standards and quality in the country
16. Reproduce coins or banknotes that are legal tender in the territory of the country, or of any country, securities and other commercial documents, stamps, postage stamps, tax stamps, or fiscal stamps in general
17. Reproduce, imitate, or contain the name of a plant variety protected in the country or abroad, if the sign is intended for products or services related to that variety or its use is likely to cause confusion or association with the variety
18. Are contrary to the law, morality, public order, or good customs; or,
19. Contain the name of a protected traditional specialty.
Ecuadorian IP law, recognizes several types of trademarks: trademarks, service marks, collective marks, slogans, certification marks, trade names, and titles of establishment.
The application is filed online before the Servicio Nacional de Derechos Intelectuales (“SENADI”), through the web page www.derechosintelectuales.gob.ec. Ecuador is a single class jurisdiction, so a separate application needs to be filed for each class. Trademarks and slogans do not need any evidence of use in order to be granted.
The application contains information related to the applicant (name, address and POA), the name of the trademark, the device if applicable, the description of the trademark, the description of the goods or services, the international class, the priority claimed (if applicable) and in case it is being filed in order to complete an Andean opposition, the information related to the opposition process.
To obtain the registration of a commercial name, the applicant must accompany the application with proof of public use, continuous and in good faith, at least during the six months prior to the application.
Foreign applicants may file an application through a local agent with a power of attorney attested by a notary and legalized by Apostille or up to the Ecuadorian Consulate if the particular jurisdiction is not a member state at the Apostille Convention.
Foreign applicants are not required to be domiciled in Ecuador.
The application process includes a formal examination, publication in the monthly Industrial Property Gazette, and an examination of distinctiveness against prior trademarks.
The registration process takes approximately between 4-6 months. The document that grants the right is the resolution, while the registration certificate is merely a formality, trademarks are granted for 10 years, since the granting date.
National:
The opposition term is 30 working days since the publication date of the application. This period cannot be extended. Oppositions are also possible by owners of trademarks in other member states of the Andean Community in which case a local application needs to be filed to prove a legitimate interest.
Andean regulations contemplate the figure of the Andean opposition, in which a trademark holder of a priori trademark registration or application in any member country can file opposition based in this foreign registration, however in order to prove legitime interest and real interest, the opponent must file for registration the foreign trademark. The rest of the process is the same as national opposition.
Protection is granted from the date in which the granting resolution is issued.. Trademark registration is valid for 10 years from such date. The registration is renewable for periods of 10 years.
Practical details on grace periods for trademark renewals are available in our publication
herePractical details on trademark use requirements are available in our publication
hereThe official fee for a trademark application is USD 208 including the issuance of the title. The official fee for a three-dimensional trademark application is USD 1,002.
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Practical details on trademark licensing are available in our publication
hereOnline you can see a limited part of information about this country.
More in-depth details are available for the following aspects:
General Trademark Regulations
Trademark Use Requirements
Grace Period for Trademark Renewal
Trademark Licensing
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Aug 08, 2025
Pérez, Bustamante & Ponce, Quito, Ecuador