2024: The year in review

Robert Pocklington Vicente

IP expert at the Latin America IP SME Helpdesk

“Silent night, holy night

All is calm, all is bright”

All is calm and bright by the end of 2024, in a year packed with some great news coming from Latin America. The two main news this year have been Uruguay becoming the 158^th member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), from January 2025; and the new IP Law in force in El Salvador. 

Since 2021, the Latin America IP SME Helpdesk has provided its IP Yearly reviews, where EU SMEs may check what news may benefit their business when internationalising to Latin America. These changes mostly benefit EU SMEs when internationalizing to this region, and that is why we are analising at this moment certain decisions that achieved significant progress on this path towards the development of IP in Latin America.

Let’s all grab a mug of hot chocolate and sit by the chimney to discuss how the year 2024 has been in the region of Latin America. 

Patents

- The main IP news this year, is surely Uruguay joining the PCT, starting January 7, 2025. Thanks to this decision, foreign innovators and companies may use the PCT System to seek patent protection for their inventions in Uruguay. Joining the PCT is seen as an important step towards the ratification of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, a top priority for Uruguay. The treaty allows applicants to file a single application for protection in multiple countries, significantly streamlining the process and reducing costs.

- INDECOPI Peru launched (May 2024) the Accelerated Program for Green Patents, an initiative that aims to speed up the examination of patent applications related to environmentally friendly technologies, while promoting the development and use of sustainable technologies in various sectors. This program is free of charge, but applicants must meet certain requirements and complete an application form to qualify. 

- The European Patent Office (EPO) and the National Institute of Industrial Property of Chile (INAPI) Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program commenced in June 2024, and will run for three years until May 2027. The PPH enables an applicant whose claims have been determined to be patentable/allowable to have a corresponding application filed with a PPH partner office processed in an accelerated manner while at the same time allowing the offices involved to exploit available work results.

- Brazil's National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) joined the Global Patent Prosecution Highway (GPPH), a multilateral program managed by the Japan Patent Office and involving 27 intellectual property offices. The GPPH aims to speed up the processing of patent applications by sharing examination results between offices.

- In August, Uruguay's parliament approved accession to the Budapest Treaty, which includes 87 countries such as Chile, Colombia, and Peru. The Budapest Treaty allows a single deposit of the micro-organism with any "international depositary authority" to satisfy the disclosure requirements of all contracting countries. This means that you don't have to make separate deposits in each country where you seek patent protection, as long as the regional patent office recognises the treaty.

Trade marks

- The Dominican Republic's National Industrial Property Office (ONAPI) has joined the TMview trade mark search tool. The TMview database is an online consultation platform managed by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). It collects and provides free-of-charge access to trade mark applications and registrations of the participating trade mark offices, including the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

- Brazil's National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) has announced its accession to the World Intellectual Property Organization's (WIPO) Global Trademark Database. This decision, which is in line with the INPI's Strategic Plan 2023-2026, involves the exchange of Brazilian trade mark data and represents an important step towards its consolidation at the global level. The platform offers advanced search functionality, allowing users to search for trade marks by key elements such as owner name or case number. Notably, the image search enables accurate identification based on shape or colour similarity to the reference image, improving the efficiency of trade mark searches.

- Uruguay opens its doors to a broader spectrum of trade marks in response to the changing landscape of technology and digitalisation. From March 2024, four non-traditional trade mark categories were introduced– in line with Resolution 18/2023 of the National Directorate of Industrial Property (DNPI)– : pattern trade marks, movement trade marks, position trade marks, and multimedia trade marks. 

Industrial designs

- The Registry of Intellectual Property of Guatemala (RPI-GT) announced its decision to join DesignClass. This decision means that Guatemala will adopt the HDBPI terms listed in DesignClass. DesignClass stands out as a valuable search and translation tool for the product indicators required to apply for design protection. It provides a collection of user-friendly capabilities to assist users in identifying the Harmonised Database of Product Indications (HDBPI) that best matches the items to which a design is applied.

- The National Directorate of Intellectual Property of Paraguay (DINAPI) joins DESIGNclass. The IP office adopts the Harmonised Database of Product Indications (HDBPI) terms listed in DesignClass.

IP Law reforms

- In July 2024, El Salvador's Legislative Assembly approved a new intellectual property law to replace the one from 1993. Key changes include expanded protection for trade secrets, plant varieties, and traditional knowledge, and more efficient procedures for registering trade marks, patents and copyright. Furthermore, the law will strengthen measures against piracy and counterfeiting, aligning El Salvador with international standards and enhancing its global competitiveness. The new IP law establishes the Salvadoran Institute of Intellectual Property (ISPI), which will centralise and simplify IP services, including digital registration processes.

- Venezuela's Autonomous Service of Intellectual Property (SAPI) has announced a reform of the IP regime, which aims to strengthen the country's national production through Protected Geographical Indications (PGI) and modernised IP legislation. 

Any other news

- The Mexican Patent Office (IMPI) has been ranked as one of the most innovative IP offices by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in its World Intellectual Property Report 2024.

- The Association Agreement between the European Union and Central America came into force in April, marking a significant milestone in the 40-year history of cooperation between the regions. This agreement amplifies cooperation across diverse domains, from commercial development and climate change mitigation to institutional reinforcement and political dialogue.

- The Dominican Republic has been removed from the Special 301 Intellectual Property Watch List. The removal from the Watch List highlights the progress made by the country in the IP area. This progress includes the implementation of enforcement measures to combat piracy, in particular concerning counterfeit medicines, as well as cooperation with international organisations to obtain training and technical assistance.

To access all our previous and this year’s IP yearly reviews, check our webpage: IP Yearly reviews.

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In a nutshell, we can claim that Latin American countries are increasingly committed to achieve improvements in their respective laws on Intellectual Property. If you don’t want to miss any of the future good news about IP in the region, we suggest that you subscribe to our newsletter. 

Should you have any questions after reading the “2024 year in review” article, submit your inquiry to our Helpline service. It’s free, offered in English, French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese, and we answer you back within 3 working days.