Trademark Registration in Costa Rica

In Costa Rica, trademark rights are established through use. This means that the person or company that first and continuously uses a trademark in Costa Rica will enjoy preferential rights over it. However, in practice it is strongly recommended to register your trademark.

Registration gives you a legal presumption of ownership, helps prevent future disputes over who owns the mark, and makes it much easier to take legal action in cases of infringement or unauthorized use.
Trademarks in Costa Rica are registered with the National Register of the Republic of Costa Rica RNP.

If you register a combined trademark (containing both word and figurative elements), your exclusive right will be limited to the exact configuration as filed and registered. If you wish to use the word element separately from the logo (or vice versa), it is advisable to file additional applications for the elements you want to protect separately.

To register a trademark in Costa Rica, you will generally need:

• Original Power of Attorney, signed and notarized.
• The name or logo you want to register
• The applicant’s details

Your iGERENT consultant will confirm the exact requirements for your case and guide you through each step.

The average time to register a trademark in Costa Rica is around 5 months for straightforward cases.

This is an estimated processing time based on current timeframes and may vary considerably depending on the complexity of the application, office actions, or oppositions.

Once registered, a trademark in Costa Rica is valid for 10 years from the date of registration. It can be renewed indefinitely for additional ten-year periods.

Trademarks may be renewed up to 12 months before their expiration date. After expiration, there is a six (6) month grace period for late renewal, subject to payment of late renewal fees.

If you would like the figurative or design elements of your mark to be taken into account in a Trademark Search Report for Costa Rica, you can contact us directly to confirm if we can offer this service in this jurisdiction. Service fees and delivery times may vary.

Yes. If a third party attempts to register a trademark that includes elements that may be considered similar to your own for related goods or services, you have the right to file an opposition based on confusing similarity.

Opposition actions against a trademark application in Costa Rica may be filed within two (2) months from the date of the first publication of the application in the Intellectual Property Gazette of Costa Rica.

If you wish to oppose a trademark application without having previously filed or registered your own mark, you are still allowed to do so, but in that case:

• You must prove prior use of your trademark, and
• You must file your own application for registration within 15 days of having submitted the opposition.

A trademark does not need to be in use in order to be registered in Costa Rica. However, once registered, if the mark is not used within five (5) years of registration, third parties may file cancellation actions based on non-use.

To avoid cancellation, it is sufficient to demonstrate minimal use of the trademark in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica recognizes three-dimensional (3D) trademarks through the National Registry (Registro Nacional).

To register a 3D trademark:

• Applicants must provide a clear graphical representation of the mark from at least three different angles.
• The shape must be distinctive and not solely functional.

Costa Rica follows a first-to-file system, which makes early filing especially important for 3D marks. The National Registry may request evidence of acquired distinctiveness if the 3D mark is not inherently distinctive.

Trademark applications, including 3D marks, can be filed online through the official website of the National Registry.