Trademark oppositions in Chile are governed by Instituto Nacional de Propiedad Industrial (INAPI) under Articles 4 to 17 of the Industrial Property Law.
In Chile, substantive examination is conducted after the opposition period. Therefore, when an opposition is filed, the INPI does not immediately served the same on the opposite party. Rather, it conducts the substantive examination procedurally and then communicates the opposition along with office action, if any.
- Filing Notice of Opposition – Any interested person or entity can file a notice of opposition against an application within 30 working days from the date of its publication in the Trade Marks Journal. Once it is filed and substantive examination of the said application is conducted, the opposition is communicated to the opposite party.
- Filing of Counter Statement – Upon receiving the notice of opposition, the applicant is required to submit their response with INPI within a period of 30 working days. Thereafter, the INPI serves the counter statement to the Opponent.
- Evidence – In case the counter statement is accompanied with evidence, the Opponent is given a period of 3 working days to object the same. If an objection is filed, the same is served upon the Applicant, who is given a deadline of 3 working days to respond to the objection. Subsequently, the response is served upon the Opponent.
Whether the opposition is contested or not, the arguments put forth by the Opponent or applicant or both (if contested) are considered by INPI. If the Registry deems necessary, such that there are substantial and contestable facts pertinent to the application, it may open a probationary term in which the grounds of opposition will be tried. Otherwise, a judgment is issued. - Opening of Probationary Term – The burden of proof is on the Opponent to file the required evidence within 30 working days. The same is served on the applicant for a possible objection. Filing of evidence by the applicant is optional. If the applicant files their evidence, the same is served upon the Opponent for objection.
- Decision & Order – Once the evidence stage is concluded, the Registrar issues a decision.
Appeal to Decision of the Opposition
In an event that any party is unsatisfied with the decision of the Registrar, an appeal can be filed with within 15 working days from date of the Registrar’s decision. The admissibility of the appeal is examined by the INPI, however, it is submitted to the Industrial Property Court (Tribunal de Propiedad Industrial, TPI) for final judgment.
For more information on trademark opposition in Ukraine, please write to us at foreign.opp@ssrana.com