THE ELECTRONIC GAZETTE : GOODBYE TO THE PUBLICATIONS IN THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL

On June 29, 2017, Supreme Decree No. 071-2017-PCM was published in the Official Journal of Peru, through which the Electronic Gazette of the Intellectual Property Office of Peru (INDECOPI) was launched.

This digital tool replaces the Official Journal as far as the publication of trademarks, inventions, utility models and industrial designs goes. Now all these will be published in the Electronic Gazette for free, and not in the Official Journal, where the publications had a cost that could reach a significant amount, depending on the size of the publication.

As it is well known, the publication of trademarks, inventions, utility models and industrial designs whose registration has been requested is mandatory. In this way, third parties who consider their rights affected may file an opposition before INDECOPI.

In addition to being free, the new digital tool protects the applicants, because the publication of their application will be in charge of INDECOPI, which will publish it in the Electronic Gazette as soon as it is verified that it complies with the formal requirements. Before, the publication in the Official Journal was responsibility of the applicant, who had a deadline to do it. Many times, the applicant forgot to make the publication and his application was declared abandoned.

Anyway, it is always advisable to enter the Electronic Gazette and verify that the publication does not contain errors. Above all, it is important to enter if the application is for an invention or for a utility model, since in these cases a fee for examination must be paid, and the period for making such payment will be established in the publication.

Another advantage of this new digital tool is that procedures will be faster. In other words, applicants will be able to register their trademarks, inventions, utility models or industrial designs in record terms worldwide, according to INDECOPI authorities.

It is important to note that Plant Variety Rights applications are not yet published in the Electronic Gazette, but will continue to be published in the Official Journal.

The new digital tool is on the website of INDECOPI, and its use is quite simple. Anyone can enter it and see the applications that have been published in the current date or in previous ones. In addition to searching by date, the search for publications can also be done by area in which the application is being processed, by type of application, by name of the applicant, by denomination or by file number.