# Intellectual Property in Colombia: Trademark and Patent Registration > Trademark registration before the SIC, patents, copyright and software registration, licensing and franchise agreements, and enforcement against infringement. Madrid Protocol and PCT filings. Source: https://vaabogados.com.co/en/services/intellectual-property/ ## Your brand is worth whatever the registration behind it is worth Many companies discover the value of their trademark on the day somebody else registers it. By then the conversation is no longer about protection, it is about negotiation, and the other side sets the price. Colombia, like most countries, operates a registration-based trademark system. Using a sign for years does not by itself create a right enforceable against the party who filed first. That asymmetry explains most of the disputes we handle in this area, and it explains why we prioritize filings above almost any other procedure in the practice: it is the point where an inexpensive intervention prevents a large loss. Foreign companies entering Colombia should treat this as a pre-launch item, not a post-launch one. We regularly see brands announce a Colombian launch, generate press coverage, and then find that a local party filed the mark in the interval. Colombia is a member of the Andean Community, and trademark rights here are governed by Andean Decision 486 of 2000, common to the member countries. We advise on the identification, registration, exploitation and enforcement of intangible assets: trademarks, trade names, patents, industrial designs, copyright works, software, databases and trade secrets. --- ## Trademarks and distinctive signs Trademark registration in Colombia is handled by the **Superintendency of Industry and Commerce (SIC)**. Our work includes: - **Clearance searches and registrability analysis** before filing. This step is what prevents paying official fees on an application destined to be refused for confusing similarity with a prior registration, or because the sign is descriptive or generic. - **Class strategy** under the Nice Classification, covering both current activity and foreseeable expansion. Filing in too few classes leaves gaps; filing in too many raises cost without adding protection. - **Filing and prosecution**, responses to office actions and registrability objections. - **Registration of slogans, trade names and business signs.** - **Renewals and watch services** to detect third party applications that could affect the mark. **Contentious matters:** filing and answering oppositions, cancellation actions for non-use, nullity actions against registrations, and infringement actions. We also handle **unfair competition** claims before the SIC acting in its judicial capacity, which frequently run alongside trademark disputes. --- ## Patents, utility models and industrial designs - **Patents of invention and utility models:** preliminary patentability assessment, prior art searching, drafting and filing before the SIC, and handling of substantive examination. - **Industrial designs and integrated circuit layout designs.** - **Disclosure strategy.** A practical warning we give early: disclosing the invention before filing can destroy novelty and with it the possibility of patenting. The conversation with counsel belongs before the trade fair, the pitch and the press release, not after. - **International protection** through the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), coordinating national phase entry in the countries of interest. --- ## Copyright and software Copyright protects the work from the moment of creation, without registration. Registration before the **National Copyright Directorate (DNDA)** does not create the right, but it does provide evidence of date and ownership that proves decisive in litigation. - **Registration of literary, artistic and audiovisual works.** - **Registration of software**, including source code, and of databases. - **Ownership in commissioned development and in employment relationships.** This is where the most frequent and most expensive mistake in technology companies sits: commissioning the development of a product without an express assignment of economic rights, then discovering during a funding round or a sale that the core asset is not in the company's name. Due diligence finds it every time. - **Assignment and licence agreements for economic rights**, and management of moral rights, which under Colombian law are inalienable and non-transferable. Foreign clients accustomed to full work-for-hire assignment should note this difference. --- ## Commercial exploitation of intangibles A protected but badly contracted intangible generates no value. We structure: - **Trademark, patent and software licences**, with precise definition of territory, exclusivity, term, quality control, termination events and the fate of the intangible on expiry. - **Franchise agreements**, including operating manuals, brand standards and the royalty regime. - **Assignments** of industrial and intellectual property rights, and their recordal where required for enforceability against third parties. - **Confidentiality agreements and trade secret protection**, a strategic alternative to patenting where disclosure is undesirable. - **Technology development, integration and software services agreements.** **The tax layer.** Licence and franchise agreements generate royalties, and royalties carry their own tax treatment: withholding tax on payments abroad, limits on deductibility, application of double taxation treaties, and transfer pricing obligations where the parties are related. It is common to see technically sound licence agreements whose royalty structure turns out to be partly non-deductible in Colombia. We review both layers at the same time, which is the practical reason a tax firm is the right place to structure these agreements. --- ## International protection - **Madrid Protocol**, which Colombia joined through Law 1455 of 2011, allowing protection to be sought in multiple countries from a single base application or registration, in one procedure and one language. - **PCT system** for patents. - **Correspondent network** in the United States, Latin America, Europe and Asia, allowing registration and enforcement in those jurisdictions to be channelled through us, with a single point of contact for the client. --- ## IP audit For companies preparing to raise capital, sell or expand, we provide a full portfolio review: which assets exist, which are registered, in whose name, in which classes and in which countries; which contracts assign or encumber rights; which deadlines are approaching; and which gaps need closing before a buyer or investor finds them. --- ## Frequently asked questions **How long does trademark registration take in Colombia?** An application without oppositions or objections is generally resolved within several months, with timing varying according to the SIC's workload and the complexity of the case. A third party opposition can extend it considerably. That is why the prior registrability analysis is not an added cost, it is what reduces the probability of ending up in that scenario. **Does registering my company name at the Chamber of Commerce protect my trademark?** No. These are different registers with different effects. Commercial registration and trade name registration do not grant the exclusive nationwide right over the mark that a trademark registration confers. It is one of the most frequent and most costly confusions we encounter. **I have used the brand for years without registering it. Am I protected?** Your position is weaker than you probably believe. Prior use can be relevant in specific scenarios, but it is not equivalent to the right conferred by registration. If a third party registers the sign, you are the one who has to prove and litigate. The practical recommendation is to file now. **Does registration in Colombia protect me elsewhere?** No. Protection is territorial. To protect the mark outside Colombia it must be registered in each country of interest, directly or through the Madrid Protocol. We define the country map with the client based on their actual commercial plan rather than a generic list. **I hired an external developer to build my app. Do I own the software?** Only if the contract says so expressly and in the terms the law requires. Without a written assignment of economic rights, ownership may remain with the developer, with everything that implies when you try to sell the company or raise investment. We review the contract and, where the assignment is missing, obtain it before the issue becomes a closing condition in a negotiation. **We are a foreign brand planning a Colombian launch. When should we file?** Before any public announcement, and ideally before appointing local distributors. Filing early is inexpensive. Recovering a mark that a third party registered in the interval is not, and in some cases is not possible at all on commercially acceptable terms. --- ## Let's discuss your matter **Email:** evilardy@vaabogados.com.co **WhatsApp:** +57 300 612 1685 **Location:** Barranquilla, Colombia *This page is informational and does not constitute legal advice for any specific case.*