In Colombia, it is possible to register your trademark before the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce, and protect it from improper use, unfair competition, or any unauthorized use by third parties, and have the peace of mind of being the owner of a trademark.
This registration will also allow you to:
- Ensure ownership of the trademark.
- Protect it in cases of unauthorized use, or if another person wishes to register a similar trademark.
- Guarantee customers or users that the product or service identified by a trademark provides authenticity guarantees.
- Economically exploit the trademark, whether through licenses, advertising, or collaborations.
- By having the trademark registered and used through its products or services, it acquires economic value, impacting assets and its evolution in the market.
Likewise, the trademarks you wish to register must meet certain requirements for them to be registered. These requirements are: they must not be generic, or they must not create confusion with other trademarks already registered or in the process. Words or phrases commonly used in Colombia cannot be registered.
To this end, we provide you with 7 steps for registering your trademark in Colombia:
- Create the logo or trademark you wish to register, both in color and in grayscale (the trademark may also be a word, not necessarily a drawing).
- Check for the existence of similar trademarks or names already on the market, as well as their respective logos, either through digital platforms or digital search engines.
- Determine the activities protected by the trademark, as well as the inventory of goods marketed under the trademark, since each trademark corresponds to a specific product or service.
- Verify who will be the owner of the trademark; it may be a natural person or a company or entity (legal entity).
- Have identification and legal representation documents, in the case of legal entities.
- Check the costs associated with registering your trademark according to the number of goods or services you wish to identify.
- Submit the trademark registration application to the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce, paying the relevant registration fees.
Once these steps are completed, you will have initiated the trademark registration process before the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce. This is a purely administrative process, which has terms that the entity establishes internally to grant trademark registrations. Likewise, in that process, the distinctive capacity of the trademark is established and compared with other previously registered trademarks.
If the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce grants or awards the trademark registration, it will have protection and validity for 10 years, counted from the date of registration, which must be renewed once the previous date is reached, within a term of 6 months before or after the end of the registration date. Renewal can be done indefinitely every 10 years. If renewal is not carried out, it will be understood that the trademark is not being used and therefore the registration is lost.