– Organic Code of the Social Economy of Knowledge, Creativity and Innovation, published in the Official Register Supplement No. 899, in effect since December 9, 2016.
– Regulations to the Organic Code of the Social Economy of Knowledge, Creativity and Innovation, published in the Official Register Supplement No. 9 of June 7, 2017.
– Decision 486 of the Cartagena Agreement, adopted by Ecuador in September 2000.
– Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador, published in the Official Register No. 449 of October 20, 2008, in effect since year 2008.
– Executive’s Decree No. 118, issued on October 23, 2009.
– Ecuadorian Intellectual Property Institute’s Resolution No. 3, published in the Official Register No. 203 of May 31, 2010. (New administrative tariffs).
– Ecuadorian Intellectual Property Institute’s Board Resolution No. 006-2012, published in the Official Register No. 815 of October 23, 2012. (New administrative tariffs regarding administrative services for Patents, Industrial Designs, Plant Varieties and applications for three-dimensional Trademarks).
– Ecuadorian Intellectual Property Institute’s Resolution No. 003-2014 CD-IEPI, published in the Official Register No. 326 of September 4, 2014. (New administrative tariffs).
– Ecuadorian Intellectual Property Institute’s Resolution No. 001-2016 CD-IEPI, published in the Official Register No. 822 of August 22, 2016. (New patents administrative tariffs).

– Convention on Patents of Inventions, Designs and Industrial Models, of Buenos Aires, Argentina (August 20, 1910), published in the Official Register No. 242 of August 5, 1985.
– Agreement on the Rights of Intellectual Property related to Commerce (ADPIC), published in the Official Register No. 977 of June 28, 1996.
– Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) to which Ecuador acceded as a member of the WTO on June 28, 1996.
– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Stockholm Act, since June 22, 1999, published in the Official Register No. 244 of July 29, 1999.
– Decision 486 of the Andean Community (Cartagena Agreement), in force since December 1, 2000.
– The Patent Cooperation Treaty, (Spanish official text), in force since May 7, 2001.
– The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille), party since April 2, 2005.
– Commercial Agreement between Ecuador and the European Union (EU), signed on November 11, 2016.

Applicant: individual or legal entity, national or foreign citizen. 

Foreigners and nationals not living in the country: must name a legal representative. 

Naming of inventor(s): not necessary. 

Name of invention: necessary. 

Notion of the invention: new products or procedures in every technological sector, which are susceptible of industrial application, which constitute an improvement and contain an inventive step. 

Novelty: is defined as being state of the art, that is, if it has not been made available to the public, by means of an oral or written description, or by use, or by working, or any other means sufficient to permit its execution before the day of the presentation of the patent application; no novelty grace period.

Exceptions to protection: (a) inventions contrary to public order, morals, good customs or sustainable development of the environment; (b) animal species, races and procedures for their cloning or reproduction; (c) inventions concerning the human body and its genetic identity; (d) inventions related to pharmaceutical products appearing on the World Health Organization’s list of essential medicines; (e) inventions relating to nuclear or fusion materials; (f) scientific discoveries, principles, and theories; (g) mathematical methods; (h) already existing natural materials; (i) literary and artistic works and any other aesthetic creations; (j) computer programs and games; (k) formats for the presentation of information; (l) diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical methods for the treatment of humans or animals; (m) polymorphs, metabolites, pure forms, particle size and isomers; (n) genetic resources that contain biological diversity and agro-biodiversity, as such; and (o) a new form of a substance, including salts, esters, ethers, complexes, combinations and other derivatives. 

Priorities: are given to (a) the first application for a patent of invention previously presented in another Andean Pact, WTO and Paris Convention jurisdictions; (b) the patent owner (who has a one-year priority right from the application filing date); (c) a one-year priority right is allotted to signatory countries of the Convention on Patents of Inventions, Design and Industrial Models.

Territory covered: the Republic of Ecuador.

Filing requirements to file an application (to be sent to resident agent):
All applications should now be submitted online. Therefore, in order to file a patent application it is essential for the applicant to obtain a virtual box for future notifications.
The required data and documents are the following:
1. Applicant’s full name and address (or those of the inventor);
2. Title of the invention;
3. Object or purpose of the invention;
4. Power of attorney, authenticated by Apostille;
5. Drawings and plans;
6. Description of the invention. The description must be clear and complete enough so that a person versed in the subject could produce it;
7. 1 or more claims that indicate the extent of the invention’s novelty and its industrial application;
8. 1 copy of the patent’s first application if priority is claimed;
9. Access agreement when genetic products are used;
10. Authorization of traditional resources when products have been developed from such traditional knowledge.

Electronic filing: available; online procedure in force since May 2014. 

Electronic signatures: are not accepted (only wet signatures). Scanned copies of documents are accepted, however, the original must be sent at a later date.

PCT applications: time limit for entering the national phase: 31 months for both Chapters I and II.

For a change of name or address:
1. Change of name/address document, authenticated by Apostille;
2. Power of attorney in the new name/address, authenticated by Apostille.

Amendment of application: modification of claims, specifications, plans or drawings may be made until the application’s abstract has been published. However no enlargement of the invention’s scope will be accepted. If applicant files new amendments an administrative fee is required.

Prior user: a prior user may oppose the application on lack of novelty grounds. It is important to note in this area that priority documents allow inventors a prior protection mechanism, which enables them to experiment with or build something, based on their ideas, for public consumption without losing their invention rights and patentability. This certificate serves as the basis for submitting, within one year, the registry of the corresponding patent while complying with corresponding requirements. 

Examination: the Patent Office examines the presented documentation to verify that they conform to the law’s requirements. The patent’s substance is examined after the application’s publication. No accelerated examination available.

Division: the application can be divided into several ones whilst it is being processed. A patent will be granted only if it deals with one creation or invention, or consists of a group of inventions directly related to each other constituting a united entity. 

Publication of the application: an extract of the patent application is published in the Industrial Property Gazette within one month of the application’s submittal. An applicant can request the postponement of the abstract’s publishing for a period of up to eighteen months from the application or priority date. 

Opposition to patent application: must be made within thirty business days of the application’s publication, plus thirty extendible days upon express request. An opposition may be brought by anyone presenting well-founded observations which may disqualify the invention’s patentability. When an opposition has been filed, the Patent Office must notify the applicant of the opposition and give the applicant thirty business days in which to respond or modify the application, plus thirty extendible days upon express request. If needed, an expert Examiner is appointed to study and report on the opposition.

Certification document: a certificate (in paper format) documents the grant of a patent. The grant of the patent often takes place one to two years after the application’s submission. 

Duration: twenty years, starting from the international filing date.

Annuities: yearly fees are required. 

Annuity grace period: six months with a surcharge of 50% of default amount beginning the first day delay of rate payments for maintenance per month or fraction of a month's delay. 

Protection: the patent confers the holder the right to prevent others from exploiting his patent without consent. 

Assignment: patent holders may transfer their rights gratis or for any amount of consideration, through a public document. Patent rights of the holders may be transferred to their heirs upon the death of the holders. There is a corresponding transfer fee. 

License for exploitation: patent holders may license their rights to another person only by a written contract. Licensing contracts must be approved and registered by the Patent Office.

Working – use: Decision 486 of the Cartagena Agreement requires that the working of a patent is compulsory. Non-use/working of a patent can lead to cancellation or grant of a compulsory license to a third party. For patents that have not been used/worked since their registration, a petition for a compulsory license may be filed three years from the registration date of the patent. The computation of the first non-use period starts with the date of registration of the patent. Working conditions of the patent include manufacture, importation and sales. Use of the patent in any one of the Andean Pact countries constitutes valid working of the patent in Ecuador.

Nominal use: (publication and/or advertisement of the patent in newspapers) is not enough to constitute working of the patent. 

Compulsory licenses: if the patent has not been worked within the territory once the term of three years starting from the date of granting has lapsed, or four years after the date of application, whichever is greater, the competent National Agency may issue a compulsory license, to an interested third party who has not obtained a contractual license under reasonable conditions, provided that certain regulations have been followed, that is, (a) the holder of the compulsory license must pay adequate compensation to the patent holder; (b) the compulsory license holder must obey the Patent Offices’ determination of the license’s scope, duration, purpose, monetary consideration and royalty payment conditions; (c) the compulsory license holder may not transfer or grant sub-licenses without the express written consent of the patent holder; and (d) the compulsory license holder must exploit the invention within two years of the concession date. By the Executive’s Decree No. 118, emitted on October 23, 2009, the Ecuadorian President, Rafael Correa, declared of public interest the access to medicine used to treat illnesses that affect the Ecuadorian population and that are priority for public health. On behalf of such Decree, if necessary, the national authority can grant compulsory licenses to medicine patents of human use. The Ecuadorian Intellectual Property Authority should state the reach, objective and time for each compulsory license, and also the amount and conditions of payment of the royalties of such license.

Expropriation: there is currently no legislation on this subject. 

Nullification: the Patent Office shall, of its own volition or at the request of a third party, nullify the patent totally or partially, if the invention was not patentable in accordance with the law, or if it was granted, based on false, inexact or misleading information presented by the patent holder. Patents can also be nullified if they have been granted to someone other than the inventor or his legitimate assignee.

Infringement: any person, other than the patent holder, holding themself out as possessing patent holder’s rights (through advertising, booklets, or any other types of publication) with the purpose of interfering with or exploiting the rights of the patent holder, is subject to conviction and fine. Likewise, other violations of the patent holder’s rights are subject to fines. The civil courts, the administrative conflict courts, the criminal courts and the Administrative Authority (SENADI), hold jurisdiction in cases of intellectual property law infringement.