– Industrial Property Law of October 14, 1955, published in Official Gazette No. 24,873 dated October 14, 1955.

Note: changes in the law have been introduced by the Venezuelan Patent and Trademark Office. As from September 17, 2008, the provisions of Decision 486 are no longer in force, based on a government decision dated April 2006, denouncing the Cartagena Agreement. Furthermore, a new Industrial Property Law is in preparation and expected to be enacted in the near future.

– Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), since November 23, 1984.
– WTO’s TRIPS Agreement, since January 1, 1995.
– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Stockholm Act, since September 12, 1995.
– Bolivarian Agreement on Patents (1911).
– The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille), since March 16, 1999.

Applicant: the inventor, his assignee, his successors or the person(s) who first, introduce(s) the invention to the public. Patentees may be individuals or legal entities.

Foreigners and nationals not living in the country: must apply through a duly appointed attorney.

Protection of foreigners: possible.

Naming of inventor(s): compulsory.

Notion of the invention: creations for industrial applications, which are novel and have an inventive level.

Novelty: not be made available to the public anywhere in the world.

Patentable: (1) all new, definite and useful products; (2) all new machines and all new instruments or apparatus for industrial use or for medicinal, technical or scientific applications; (3) parts or elements of machines, mechanisms, apparatus, accessories through which a great saving or perfection in products or results may be achieved; (4) new processes for the preparation of substances or objects for industrial or commercial use; (5) new processes for the preparation of chemical products and new methods of preparation, extraction and separation of natural substances; (6) reforms, improvements or modifications introduced in already known objects; (7) all new models or drawings for industrial use; (8) any other invention or discovery suitable for an industrial application; and (9) an invention, improvement, industrial model or drawing which, having been patented abroad, has not been revealed, patented or placed in use in Venezuela.

Confirmation patents: in force.

Secret patents: not possible.  

Priority: twelve months, according to Paris Convention.

Territory covered: Republic of Venezuela.

Filing requirements for an application (to be sent to resident agent):
1. Power of attorney and inventor’s assignment document (each notarized and legalized by a Venezuelan Consulate, or Apostille);
2. Specification in Spanish in triplicate;
3. Drawings;
4. Priority document, if any, notarized, translated into Spanish by a Venezuelan sworn translator.

Filing without above-mentioned documents: possible filing without assignment and power of attorney (one month) and priority document (three months), which must be filed within the aforementioned periods. The specification must be submitted in the Spanish language; otherwise the invention cannot be filed. All documentation must be translated into Spanish by a Venezuelan sworn translator.

Consular legalization: if there is no Venezuelan Consulate in the applicant’s country, a consulate of a friendly nation may legalize the documents. An Apostille can replace consular legalization as of March 16, 1999.

Amendment or alterations: possible at any time during the registration procedure.

Division: allowed.

Application kept secret: while the invention remains unpublished.

Examination and publication: the application is published after a formal examination.

Observations: can be filed by third parties within a period of thirty days from publication.

Granting: if the examination is favorable for the applicant, a patent is granted and this decision published in the Industrial Property Bulletin.

Delivery of document: after payment of an issue fee. Due to a huge backlog at the Patent Office, there are currently lengthy delays.

Beginning of protection: from the date of grant.

Duration: ten years from the date of filing.

Extension: five years extension possible.

Annuities: the first annuity must be paid at the time of filing of the application; the others must be paid before the end of each year.

Marking of patented goods: compulsory.

Text of marking: “Patente di Invention” or “P.I.”.

Amendment of issued patents: not possible.

Assignment: by a duly executed document, legalized by a Venezuelan Consulate or by Apostille.

License for exploitation: can be granted to a local company by means of an agreement between the interested parties.

Working: not compulsory.

Expropriation: can take place when the invention is considered to be of interest to the State or to the public.

Nullification: can take place when a patent is obtained in violation of the Venezuelan patent law.

Infringement and penalties: those who transgress the rights of the legitimate beneficiary or owner of a patent, by manufacturing, executing, transmitting or using for industrial and lucrative purposes, false and fraudulent copies of the object of the patent without the express or implied consent of the former, shall be punished. Remedies include injunction and award of damages. Criminal action is also possible.