Amendments to the IP legislation in Argentina

The National Institute of Industrial Property of Argentina (INPI) has recently issued Decree No. 250/2018, which has brought some significant changes to the Argentinian IP legislation starting from October 1, 2018.

Accordingly, INPI has introduced an electronic filing system, which is going to become the only means of the official communication with the IP office as of November 1, 2018. This system has been launched with the aim to facilitate and expedite the prosecution of patents, utility models, designs and trademarks.

It is now sufficient to file a copy of the priority document, except for the cases when INPI experts require an original thereof. Nevertheless, it has been announced that the sworn translation into Spanish should accompany priority documents for any IP type if an application was filed on or after October 1, 2018. The term for filing the translation is set out within three months from the filing date; for applications filed from January 12, 2018 to October 1, 2018, it ends on January 1, 2019. In case of missing the deadline, the priority right will be lost, as the extension for this term has not been stipulated.

The Decree also contains provisions on an increase of the official fees for the recordals of transfer of right and change of name by approximately 42% for all IP types (from ARS 1200 to ARS 1700).

The online filing system is believed to become a convenient and time-saving instrument for the applicants, their representatives and INPI experts. However, the requirement for submission of the sworn translation of the priority documents has proved to be inefficient in regards to time and costs.  Despite this, the Argentinian IP protection system is continually evolving and with further positive alterations, will progress towards a more efficient system.