RIP conducts formality examination and substantive examination of invention patent applications. If the formality examination fails to meet the requirements, the Patent Office will notify the applicant to make corrections within 15 working days. Failure to make corrections on time will be considered withdrawn. After passing the formality examination, the applicant shall pay the publication fee within one month. Costa Rican patent applications will be published in the Patent Gazette for three consecutive days, and applicants can also apply for early publication. Anyone can file an objection within three months of publication. The Patent Office will notify the applicant of the opposition and require the applicant to respond within one month. After the opposition period, the patent application in Costa Rica enters the substantive examination stage, and the patent granted can be obtained if the granted conditions are met. In most cases, the RIP will issue an opinion only once during the substantive examination process.
