Once a trademark application has been accepted by the Ecuadorian IPO, it is examined as to the formal requirements within fifteen working days.
If a trademark application meets formal requirements, it is published in the Intellectual Property Gazette. Within 30 working days of publication, any person may file a duly reasoned objection to registration of trademark application.
On expiry of the opposition period, the Ecuadorian IPO shall proceed with the substantive examination after which it issues a decision on the grant or refusal of the trademark registration.

A grant fee is not stipulated. The registration of a trademark shall have a term of 10 years from the date of registration and can be renewed for successive ten years. A renewal request may be filed within six months before the expiration of the validity term. It is possible to renew a trademark within six months after the expiration date without payment of extra fees.

The processing time from filing to trademark registration in Ecuador is approximately 6-10 months if no oppositions have been filed.

Registration of the trademark in Ecuador can be cancelled on the grounds of non-use upon a third party’s request if it has not been used by its registered owner within the past 3 years in at least one of the Andean Countries (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru or Bolivia). The prevailing party is granted a preemptive right to register the cancelled mark. It is possible to bring a cancellation action to exclude from the registration those goods/services for which actual use is not evidenced. The burden of proof of use falls on its owner. The mark is considered to be in use when the goods or services protected have been placed for trade by the registered owner, its licensee or an authorized person, in the amount and in the manner corresponding to such type of goods or services.

For foreign applicants, it is necessary to perform trademark registration in Ecuador through a registered Ecuadorian trademark attorney.

The time limit for the Ecuadorian PCT national phase entry is 31 months from the priority date. This timeframe cannot be extended.

It is required to file a patent application to the Ecuadorian Patent Office in Spanish. Filing in a different language with late submission of Spanish translation is not possible.
For obtaining the filing date, the PCT national phase patent application in Ecuador must contain:
– request to grant a patent;
– title or name of the invention with a description thereof, an abstract, one or more claims and the necessary plans and drawings;
– payment of the prescribed fee.

An original Power of Attorney has to be signed by the applicant, notarized and legalized up to the Consul of Ecuador or apostilled. The POA can be submitted after the Ecuadorian Patent Office’s request. The final date is two months from the IPO’s notification of a missing document. This deadline may be extended by two additional months.

If the applicant is not the inventor, an Assignment deed in Spanish signed by the assignor and the assignee, notarized and legalized up to the Consul of Ecuador or Apostille has to be filed to the Ecuadorian Patent Office. The Assignment deed can be submitted after the Ecuadorian Patent Office’s request. The final date is two months from the IPO’s notification of a missing document. This deadline may be extended by two additional months. It is not required to submit the assignment deed if it was deposited in the international phase of a PCT application.

Patent applications undergo formal and substantive examinations. Petition for appointment of an examiner must be filed within six months from the publication of the application; however, the examination fee becomes due when the examiner is appointed (approximately two years).

The novelty grace period in Ecuador is twelve months prior to the international filing date or priority date. If the application became available to the public within this period, it does not disprove the novelty of the invention in Ecuador.

The novelty grace period only applies to disclosures originated from:
– inventor or his successor;

– local competent office which publishes the content of the application filed by the inventor or his successor; or

– third party who has obtained the information directly or indirectly from the inventor or his successor.

There is not a granting fee for patent registration in Ecuador. Patents are in force for twenty years from the international filing date. Maintenance fees are due each year starting from the international filing date before the expiry of the last day of the month in which the anniversary of the international filing date occurs. Late payment is possible within a six-month grace period after the due date by paying a corresponding surcharge.

Average processing time for a patent registration procedure in Ecuador is 4-5 years.

Inventions may also be protected as Utility Models in Ecuador, which are subject to formal and substantive examinations.

Utility Model in Ecuador shall be granted to a new form, configuration, disposition of elements, any device, tool, instrument, mechanism or other object or any its part, that permits a better or different functioning, use or manufacture of the object which incorporates or which offers any use, advantage or technical effect that it did not have previously.
Maximum protection period of a utility model in Ecuador is ten years from the international filing date.