– Patent Law No. 6867 of April 23, 1983, as amended.
– Regulations to the Law on Patents of Invention, Industrial Designs and Utility Models, Executive Decree No. 15222, MIEM-J of December 12, 1983.
– Observance Procedures of Intellectual Property Rights Law No. 8033 of October 12, 2001, as amended.
– Administrative Rules on the Service of the Administrative Registration Court, Executive Decree No. 35456-J of March 30, 2009.
– Administrative Rules on Prosecution of Appeals before the Administrative Registration Court, approved in Session 46-2016 of November 28, 2016.

– Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), since June 10, 1981.
– WTO’s TRIPS Agreement, since January 1, 1995.
– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Stockholm Act, since October 31, 1995.
– Dominican Republic – Central America – United States of America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA), since November 21, 2007.
– The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille), since December 14, 2011.

Applicant: designer, owner or assignee of the model or design.

Nationals or foreigners not living in the country: must appoint a resident attorney.

Notion of designs or models: any combination of lines and colors giving special distinction to an industrial product will be considered an industrial design, as any plastic form, associated or not to lines or colors, will be considered an industrial model if it provides a special distinction for the product. Both of these types of designs or models can be used as prototypes for manufacturing.

Novelty: absolute, i.e. destroyed by printed publication or public use of the design or model in any country prior to the date of application in Costa Rica.

Originality: a design or model is deemed to be original as long as its external appearance originates from a creative effort by the individual creator and is not a new change in color or form of existing designs or model. 

Title: the title of the design or model may not reference trademarks or other distinctive signs.

Exceptions to protection: those designs or models which lack novelty, are contrary to the law, to public order, morals, good customs, or do not substantially modify a first design or model.

Filing requirements for an application (to be sent to resident agent):
1. Power of attorney, notarized;
2. Summary description of the design or industrial model, in no more than 100 words. A precise indication of the type of products to be covered by the design or model;
3. 5 graphic representations of the design or model, per class; not larger than 15 x 15 cm;
4. Certified copy of home registration (no Apostille or consular legalization required);
5. Assignment agreement if applicant is not the designer, with Apostille or legalized by a Costa Rican Consulate.

Term for filing the missing documents: in practice, the Patent Office grants a two-month term. As of November 1, 2014, applicants filing through a de facto agent (granting an additional one month for filing of the power of attorney, for a total of three months).

Electronic filing: available.

For a change of name:
1. Change of name document, a certified copy of said document or an extract thereof, with Apostille or legalized;
2. Power of attorney, notarized.

For a change of address:
1. Power of attorney, notarized.

Regulations relevant to patents will be applicable in what is applicable to the protection of designs and models.

Examination: same procedure as for “Patents of Invention“.

Granting: same as for “Patents of Invention“.

Delivery of document: the official certificate is issued in paper format only.

Duration: ten years.