How is a trademark registered in Guatemala?

In Guatemala, any individual (Natural Person) or Legal Person (Company) can be the owner of a
Trademark Registry.

The government entity in charge is the Intellectual Property Registry, which is responsible for registering
trademarks for products or services, advertising signs, patents for inventions, and deposits for books
and computer programs, among other things.

How long does a trademark registration take in Guatemala?

Currently, a trademark registration lasts approximately seven months from the time the application is filed until the corresponding certificate is issued.

When is the trademark protected?

The trademark is protected from the moment the application for registration is received.

The trademark registration begins with the presentation of the application in which the complete data
of the applicant, the name of the brand and its design, if any, must appear; as well as sound or auditory
marks (sounds of motors and others) and olfactory marks (perfumes and the like) can also be registered.
The class to which they belong in accordance with the Nice International Agreement for the classification of trademarks must also be indicated; and whether it is a Trademark-Industrial (products)
or Services.

The request must be submitted with the help of an active attorney in the Republic of Guatemala. The first step carried out by the registration is the examination of form and substance to establish whether the trademark is not within the prohibitions established by law, on the one hand, or if it is inadmissible due to prior rights of third parties who have previously registered the same or similar mark that may cause confusion or risk of association with the new mark.

If once the examinations have been carried out, the registry finds that there is any prohibition or cases
of inadmissibility of those indicated above, it may suspend the application for a period of one month so
that the applicant corrects the error or omission, or it may object to the application for a period of two
months for the applicant to rule on the matter.

Resolved the above or if the registry does not find any case that would merit suspension or objection, it
issues an edict that must be published 3 times within a period of 15 days in the Electronic Bulletin of the
Registry (formerly the Official Gazette), to make public knowledge about of the trademark application
and so that anyone who considers himself affected can file an opposition to the application within a
period of 2 months from the first publication.

If there is opposition, the opponent is heard for a period of two months, which may be extended to two
more months, if necessary, for the provision of evidence. Once the indicated periods have expired, the
registry will resolve whether the opposition takes place or not.

If there is no opposition, the registry after one month of the publications of the edicts orders the
payment of the registration fee and issues the corresponding Certificate of Registration, which grants all
the property rights of the trademark to the applicant, within the which is to be the only legitimate
person for the use of the trademark in commerce, to be able to prevent or oppose any registration of an
equal or similar trademark that may cause confusion in the consuming public, among others.