– Colombian Industrial Designs are regulated by Decision 486 of the Andean Community (Cartagena Agreement), in force since December 1, 2000.
– Circular Letter 10 of the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce of Colombia, published August 6, 2001.
– Resolution 21447 of April 11, 2012, which amended Titles X and XI of the Circular Letter of the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce of Colombia.
– License agreements involving designs are also regulated by Decision 291 of the Andean Community.
– Resolution 1692 of January 20, 2021, which amends Title X of the Circular Letter of Superintendence of Industry and Commerce of Colombia.
– Law 2080 of January 25, 2021, which amends the Administrative Code.
– Resolution 69459 of October 26, 2021, which amends Title X of the Circular Letter of Superintendence of Industry and Commerce of Colombia.
– Resolution 60452 of 2022 which amends the instructions related to the filing of applications for the registration of industrial designs.

– Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), since May 4, 1980.
– WTO’s TRIPS Agreement, including trade in Counterfeit Goods, since April 30, 1995.
– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Stockholm Act, since September 3, 1996.
– Decisions 486 and 291 of the Andean Community (Cartagena Agreement).
– The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille), party since January 30, 2001.

Applicant: the designer or his legal assignee.

Definition: industrial designs are those of which the specific appearance of the product is what is relevant. Therefore, they are the result of any gathering of lines or color combinations, or any two-dimensional or three-dimensional external form, line, contour, arrangement, texture or material, without changing the destination or purpose of the product. The graphical user interface is protectable through industrial designs.

Exceptions: those designs (1) whose commercial exploitation within Colombia’s territory must be necessarily prohibited in order to protect public order and morals; (2) whose appearance is entirely based on technical order, or on the accomplishment of a technical function, not incorporating any arbitrary contribution from the designer; (3) consisting only in a form whose exact reproduction is necessary for permitting that the product incorporating the design be mechanically mounted or connected with another product of which it forms a part.

Priority: an application validly submitted in a member country grants the priority right for a period of six months to apply for its registration in the other member countries or other countries which grant reciprocal treatment (i.e. Paris Convention).

Filing requirements:
1. Power of attorney from inventor or assignee, which can be granted through a private document and refer to one or several applications, without need of authentication or legalization. A general power of attorney is valid for all patent applications to be filed on behalf of the same party, oppositions, trademark registrations, utility models or design cases. Powers of attorney must contain faculty for representing the grantor in court and out of it, and to appoint attorneys. For representing the grantor in court, the power of attorney must be notarized, apostilled and with sworn translation into Spanish;
2. An indication as to the kind of products for which the industrial design will be used, and their International Classification. The Classification of the Locarno Agreement of October 8, 1968, is in force;
3. Graphic representation of the industrial design. As of Resolution 60452 of 2022, the Design Office theoretically accepted the presentation of graphics with dotted lines. In practice, this only began to be accepted from mid-2023. The dotted line can only be used when the design is part of another element that is not claimed. It is no longer necessary to submit all 7 views of the 3D design (top, bottom, back, front, right side, left side and perspective), but only those that are sufficient for the Examiner to understand the design in its entirety. Only one embodiment may be submitted per application;
4. As the case may be, a copy of the assignment document from the designer to the applicant. A plain copy of same duly signed by the designer(s) will be sufficient for filing at the Patent Office. (Resolution No. 21447 of 2012);
5. A certified copy of the application whose priority is sought to make valid. The declaration and the relevant documentation shall be filed jointly or separately with the application or, at the latest, within nine months from the date of filing the application whose priority is claimed. The Patent Office accepts DAS codes for recognition of priority documents. If the DAS code is provided there is no need to file any additional documentation. It is not necessary to provide the certified priority document nor the DAS code for national phase applications. Regardless of whether the priority document or the DAS code is provided, it is necessary to provide the Spanish translation of the cover page of the priority certificate if the original document is in a language other than Spanish or English.

Electronic filing: is available with 5% reduction of the filing fee.

Electronic signatures: digital and electronic signatures are accepted. Digital signatures must be certified by a national certifying agency (ONAC). The Patent Office accepts electronic signatures from known applications such as DocuSign and Adobe.

For a change of name or address: it is only required to file the recordals form, no further documents are required.

Examination and publication: once the application is filed, the Patent Office will examine if the application fulfills the filing requirements, and if so, its publication will be ordered. If the application does not fulfill the legal requirements, the Patent Office will ask the applicant to complete the application within a thirty-day term, extendable for a further thirty days after requesting and paying the respective legal fees and then the Patent Office will order its publication.

Opposition: during the following thirty working days from publication, any person having a legitimate interest may oppose the registration. Reply by the applicant must be submitted in the next thirty days following notification. An ex officio novelty examination will be made by the Patent Office only if the application is subject to opposition. If the industrial design lacks novelty, the Patent Office may, ex officio, deny the application.

Delivery of document: the certificate of registration is issued in electronic format only.

Duration: ten years from the filing date of the application, non-renewable. No maintenance annuity fees are required for industrial designs.