Register a Trademark for Your Business in Panama

Panama’s geographic location and logistic facilities make it the perfect springboard into the rest of the continent for business. Consider the ease of access to some of the highest-ranking ports in the world, low cost of labor, and various incentives for foreign entrepreneurs to set up shop. One of the ways Panama encourages business is through the types of protection it offers for individuals’ and companies’ intellectual property (IP). Protect your ideas and inventions – apply for a trademark for your business in Panama.

Registering a Trademark in Panama: local authorities

The process of registering a trademark, as well as obtaining a patent, is carried out before the General Directorate of Industrial Property of the Ministry of Commerce and Industries. Like the patent, the trademark offers protection so that its owner can distribute their product without direct competitors using it for commercial gain. Bear in mind that the registration of a trademark is of a territorial nature, meaning there is no international protection. By obtaining the registration of a trademark in Panama, protection is achieved only in Panama.

Types of trademarks in Panama

There are several types of trademarks that businesses can apply for in Panama:

• Products
• Services
• Collective
• Expressions or propaganda signs
• Commercial names and associations

In addition to the type of trademark, you must also classify your application based on the nature of the item you want to protect. In Panama, you can register any of the following for a trademark:

• Names, words and slogans
• Images, shapes, and designs
• Colours
• Scents and smells
• Flavours.

Each trademark to be registered in Panama is governed by the Nice classification, established by the Nice arrangement of 1957 that obeys regulations protecting brands, products and services.

Application requirements for a Trademark in Panama

To register your trademark, you’ll need to do the following:

• Appoint a power of attorney
• Provide a sworn affidavit outlining how you intend to use the trademarked item
• Provide description of the item you want to trademark
• Include with your application 3 branded samples of the trademark
• Provide certification of the registered trademark, if registered in another country (this must be notarized, and apostilled or authenticated by the country’s local Consulate of Panama).

Registration time and cost

Registering a trademark in Panama takes an approximate period of 8 months. A great advantage offered in Panama is that the trademark is registered with the date from when the trademark registration application was initiated, and it is granted for 5-10 years. It can be renewed up to 6 months after the expiration of the brand. The trademark registration process costs around US$140.50 for each category in which the trademark is to be registered.

What can’t be trademarked in Panama?

As with patents, the Industrial Property Legislation also provides guidance on what businesses cannot register as a trademark. Some of these include (but are not limited to):

• The reproduction or imitation of the shields of arms, flags and other emblems; acronyms, denominations or abbreviations of any State or of any national or international organization, without the due authorization;
• Descriptive or generic marks that have become distinctive or singular by use, and collective or certification marks in what refers to the place of manufacture or origin and in accordance with the terms established by regulation are excepted;
• The figures or three-dimensional forms or denominative marks that can deceive the public or mislead it, having been identified as constituting false indications about the nature, components or qualities of the products or services that they represent;
• Those that may lead to error or confusion in the consumer public, regarding the origin or attributes of the product that seeks to distinguish in Panama a geographical indication or indication of origin or designations of origin;
• Those that are contrary to morality, public order or good customs;
• The names, pseudonyms, signatures and portraits of people other than the one requesting the registration, without their consent or – if they have died – that of their heir(s). Cases of portraits or names of historical figures are excepted;
• The designs of coins, bills, guarantee or control stamps used by the State, stamps, or tax species in general.

Commitment to international protection standards

Panama joined the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 1983. The WIPO has 192 member countries, and among them, it promulgates best practice for intellectual property protection within their territories. In joining the WIPO, Panama demonstrates a commitment to developing their local intellectual property protection standards. Additionally, this commitment shows a drive to empower local businesses to make their inventions and ideas profitable. Developing IP standards around an internationally accepted model also makes it easier for businesses to seek the same trademarks for their products abroad, should they choose to expand. As Panama’s IP protection regulations are only applicable within its borders, being a member of the WIPO eases the pain for internationally expanding businesses to grapple with vastly different IP registration systems.

Biz Latin Hub can help you with a trademark for your business

At Biz Latin Hub, we provide integrated market entry and back-office services throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, with offices in Panama City, Panama, as well as over a dozen other major cities in the region. We also have trusted partners in many other markets.

Our unrivaled reach means we are ideally placed to support multi-jurisdiction market entries and cross border operations.

As well as knowledge about trademarks in Panama, our portfolio of services includes hiring & PEO, accounting & taxation, company formation, bank account opening, and corporate legal services.

Contact us today to find out more about how we can assist you in finding top talent, or otherwise do business in Latin America and the Caribbean. If this article on trademarks in Panama was of interest to you, check out the rest of our coverage of the region. Or read about our team and expert authors.