Trademark Registration in Costa Rica

The Act of Trademarks and other Distinction Signs is the main law governing trademark registration in Costa Rica. It provides for the marks that can be acknowledged in this country and the procedures to complete with respect to recognition.

Quick Facts
Trademark registration service availability (YES/NO)	Yes, our lawyers in Costa Rica are at your disposal with such services.
Applicable legislation	Act of Trademarks and other Distinction Signs
Types of trademarks	– simple, – collective, – service, – collective marks
Special registration for foreigners (YES/NO)	No
Option to register company name as trademark (YES/NO)	Yes, it is recommended to register trading names as marks.
Possibility to register a domain name as a trademark (YES/NO)	Yes, this is also possible.
Online registration possibility (YES/NO)	Yes
Registration stages	– documents preparation, – trademark verification, – paperwork filing, – examination, – publication for opposition, – Certificate issuance
Documents	– application form, – details of the registrant, – description of the mark and services/products it represents, – power of attorney for representation
Registration authority	Costa Rican Industrial Property Register
Trademark examination duration (approx.)	Around 3 months
Timeframe to obtain registration certificate (approx.)	A few weeks from recognition
Total duration of trademark registration process (approx.)	Approx. 8 months
Costa Rican trademark validity	10 years
Renewal requirements	Renewal can be requested within the year before expiry or within a 6-month grace period after it.

Below, our lawyers in Costa Rica explain how to register a trademark in this country. We can also offer representation to local and foreign clients seeking to benefit from a correct registration process.

Documents required for trademark registration in Costa Rica

The documents you need to prepare when registering a Costa Rican trademark are the same, no matter the class it falls into. To be more precise, you need to prepare:

an application form;
your details, which will vary depending on whether you are a natural person or a company representative;
a description and representation of the mark;
a description of the products or services it designates;
the receipt indicating the payment of the registration fee.

As mentioned above, you can rely on us for support in submitting the registration file. In this case, you need to grant us a power of attorney to be able to represent you. Our lawyers, specialized also in setting up a company in Costa Rica, can draft it.

Trademark registration steps in Costa Rica

The first step to register a trademark in Costa Rica is to obtain a filing date from the Industrial Property Register. Following that, you can submit the documents online or via regular postal services (we can handle both types of procedures). After obtaining the date, the following procedures will ensue:

the formal examination of the Register’s officers;
the formal examination, which will be completed within 15 days from submitting the documents;
the substantial verification, which will take another 15 days to complete;
the publication phase, during which the applicant must publish the trademark in the Official Gazette 3 times;
the opposition period which takes 2 months and during which the trademark can be contested;
the registration and issuance of the trademark certificate within 6 months from the filing date.

As you can see, the steps to complete for the registration of a trademark in Costa Rica are more complex compared to other countries. From this point of view, you should know that the formal examination implies verifying if the application file is complete. The substantial vetting, on the other hand, implies checking if the mark is similar to others.

To ensure the trademark you are about to file for registration respects the intellectual property legislation, we can perform a verification on your behalf.

Below, we also have an infographic on this topic:

Types of trademarks you can register in Costa Rica

There are various types of trademarks you can register in Costa Rica. They can take any of the following forms:

words;
combinations of words;
letters and numbers;
graphical signs;
monograms;
pictures;
patterns;
labels;
drawings.

Any combination of these is also permitted. Apart from these, it is also possible to register trading names as trademarks in Costa Rica. For this purpose, these must first be registered with the Companies House.

Our company formation agents in Costa Rica can handle trading name reservation as part of the procedure to set up a business in this country.

Trademark registration in numbers

According to the World Intellectual Property Office, at the level of 2023:

There were 14,631 trademark applications filed in Costa Rica;
Out of these 13,706 were submitted by residents, an increase of 62.1% compared to the previous year;
925 applications were filed from abroad.

Our lawyers are also at the service of foreign citizens. From this point of view, our solutions focus on those who want to move to Costa Rica. We can assist in filing for residency and citizenship in Costa Rica.

Contact us for support in filing for trademark registration in Costa Rica.