A General Overview of the Peruvian Intellectual Property Landscape in 2026

Diego Francoise Ortega Sanabria
Technical Secretary at the Commission of Inventions and New Technologies – INDECOPI

Peru is a country recognized for having a modern intellectual property framework; moreover, the national agency in charge of its administration -Peru’s National Institute for the Defense of Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property (INDECOPI)- is an institution whose practices in protection and enforcement represent a benchmark for other countries in the region, according to the Special 301 Report of 2026.

Current issues regarding intellectual property in Peru are centered on its geopolitical relations, with an agenda that seeks to satisfy its outstanding bilateral obligations and that, on the other hand, aims to play an active role in multilateral spaces, especially in the field of the protection of its national genetic resources and traditional knowledge. Next, we will highlight the most relevant actions that have been taken recently.

Patents

In July 2026, Peru ratified the WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge, becoming the first Latin American country to do so. This Treaty obliges its Parties to establish a mandatory patent disclosure requirement for patent applicants whose claimed inventions are based on genetic resources (GR) and/or associated traditional knowledge (ATK), in a way that they have to disclose the country of origin or source of these resources (disclosure requirement). In any case, the Treaty Parties are free to establish the national or regional legal sanctions in the event of non-compliance with this requirement, provided it is not the revocation of the patent, unless the non-compliance is due to fraudulent reasons.

Of course, patent rules that include provisions on GR and ATK were not new to Peru. Indeed, Decision 486/2000 of the Andean Community, of which Peru is a member, stipulates that when a patent application claims an invention obtained or developed from a GR or an ATK of which any of the Andean countries is the country of origin, the applicant must provide proof that the corresponding consent for use was obtained (accreditation requirement). Failure to comply with these Andean requirements leads to the declaration of abandonment of the application or, if the patent has already been granted, the revocation of the corresponding right.

Now, it is valid to ask how Peru will implement its obligations under the Treaty. According to the Peruvian authorities, the rules of Decision 486/2000 are already consistent with the Treaty, since the current accreditation requirement inherently involves disclosing the origin of the used GR or ATK. However, it should be noted that this accreditation requirement is only applicable when the GR or the ATK originates in one of the Andean countries. Given that the Treaty's disclosure requirement does not have any geographical limitation on the origin of the GR or the ATK, the accreditation requirement of Decision 486/2000, restricted to its Andean origin, would have to be modified to fully comply with the Treaty. In any case, the Treaty will only enter into force three months after fifteen Parties have deposited their instrument of ratification or accession, which does not seem to be very close this year, since only four have done so since its adoption in 2024.

Copyright

In February 2026, Legislative Decree 1724 was issued, amending the Peruvian Copyright Law to incorporate provisions exempting Internet service providers and digital service providers from liability under some specific conditions. This action fulfilled one of the last remaining steps to implement the IP chapter established in the Free Trade Agreement with the United States of America. As a result, Peru now has a notice-and-takedown system to block illegal content and safe harbor measures to exempt providers acting as mere intermediaries from liability, provided they meet certain conditions.

Legislative Decree 1724 is part of the latest actions taken towards the full implementation of the aforementioned IP chapter and follows Legislative Decree 1649 issued in 2024, which amended the Criminal Code to make the unauthorized camcording or reproduction of motion picture audiovisual works in cinemas punishable. Currently, all that remains to fully implement the USA FTA obligations is the adoption of a regime of statutory damages for copyright infringement and trademark counterfeiting.

Industrial designs

Peru played a significant role in the creation of the Riyadh Treaty on Design Law at the WIPO Diplomatic Conference in late 2014, having presided over the Conference's Main Commission where it was finally adopted. That said, it should be noted that while Decision 486/2000, which also governs the Andean design regime, contains several rules that are coherent with the obligations imposed by this Treaty, there is an exception that impedes its overall compatibility: maintaining the design unpublished for a fixed period, a legal figure that is not covered by the Andean regime.

Thus, it is clear that the Andean design legislation must be amended to ensure full compatibility with the Treaty and to enable not only Peru but also the other Andean countries to be legally positioned to ratify it.

New Plant Varieties

Peru has been taking important steps to strengthen the enforcement of plant breeders' rights for new plant varieties. In July 2025, INDECOPI updated its guidelines in this field, recognizing that analyses based on DNA techniques that use DNA fragments (genetic markers) specific to the protected variety can in themselves constitute proof of the commission of an infringement.

Furthermore, it is expected that in early 2027 the legal provisions for enforcement will be amended to address the problem around the difficulties that authorities and right holders have in obtaining material that might demonstrate the commission of an infringement, which is within the framework of INDECOPI's "Early Agenda", a national regulatory improvement instrument.

Finally, it is worth noting that Peru is the only South American country adhering to the 1991 Act of the UPOV Convention.

Conclusion

At both the regulatory and administrative levels, the intellectual property system in Peru has continued to evolve as a result of its bilateral and multilateral commitments, as evidenced by the most recent actions, with measures that raise the standards established by the TRIPS Agreement and offer a very attractive environment for investors.