– Law No. 26.355 on Collective Trademarks, regulated by Decree No. 1384/08 of August 27, 2008.

Applicant: only local legal entities or organizations.

Kinds of marks: words, devices, combination of letters, numerals, or any other sign with distinctive capacity.

Novelty: the marks applied for must not conflict with earlier registrations or pending applications.

Exceptions to protection: letters, words, names or signs that the Nation or the Provinces use or might use; designations of origin; the form given to the product by the manufacturer; the color of the product; terms that have passed into general use and signs that do not show characteristics of novelty or specialty; expressions usually employed for indicating the nature of the products or the class to which they belong; expressions and designs contrary to morality.

Classification: multi-class applications according to the International Classification of Nice (11th Edition).

Filing requirements: collective marks only apply to a special category of local organizations, which have to be registered before a local Registry which grants exemptions of taxes to organizations having low income. Before filing a collective mark, the organization should be duly recorded before a special Registry created for this purpose and at the time of filing the organization statute and the use regulation of the collective mark should be submitted.

Examination: as to form and registrability as well as to prior references.

Letters of consent: can be accepted by the Trademark Office in order to overcome an objection, but are not binding upon the Registrar.

Publication: new applications are published in the “Boletin de Marcas” (Trade Mark Gazette) for purposes of opposition by third parties.

Opposition: statutory term of thirty days after the publication date.

Procedure for oppositions: collective marks have a particular opposition proceeding. A third party can oppose a collective mark (even a foreign individual or company) but the Trademark Office will decide if the opposition has merits or not. Moreover, the opposer party should file the opposition on a per class basis and at duplicated official fee.

Kind of property: attributive.

Duration – extension: ten years as from the date of grant, renewable for like periods.

Renewal of trademark registrations: within sixty days prior to the date of expiry. Only carried out if the trademark has been used within the five-year period before expiration.

Use: is compulsory. Any interested person can file at the Trademark Office a cancellation action against a mark not used within five years prior to the date in which complaint is started.

Cancellation of registered trademarks: possible.

Assignment and licenses: not possible.

Infringement: the following cases are punishable: using marks that fraudulently imitate another registered mark; counterfeiting a mark; knowingly affixing a mark belonging to another or fraudulently imitating it; knowingly selling counterfeited marks or authentic marks without the consent of the trademark owner; where the offense is repeated, the penalties are doubled.

Penalty for infringement: fine and imprisonment from three months up to two years.