Ecuador Chapter of Global Patent GO——Introduction to Patent Application in Ecuador

Bananas, Prawns, Cocoa, Tuna and Rose

The world's largest exporter of bananas, the second largest exporter of prawns and the third largest exporter of flowers, the "Banana Kingdom", "the second largest prawn pond in the world", and the "Hometown of Roses" in the Andes, all of which are the reputation of Ecuador . In 2018, 93% of Ecuador's total exports to China were concentrated in seven products, mainly shrimp and bananas. The bananas you buy from any fruit stand on the street corner and the prawns you order from Hema may come from Ecuador. Today, China has become Ecuador’s second largest trading partner, with a total bilateral trade volume of 57 billion U.S. dollars, while Ecuador imports more machinery and equipment, automobiles and steel from China.

The English name of Ecuador is the same as the equator, and the capital is on the equator, and it thrives because of its unique geographical location. As a country with an area of only 280,000 square kilometers in South America, it has 4 different ecosystems, the Pacific coastline, the Andes, the Amazon rainforest and the Galapagos Islands, with 10% of the world's plants and 18% of the birds. , the world's best chocolate is produced from Ecuadorian cocoa, and Ecuador has also become a cocoa flavor producer accounting for more than 70% of global cocoa production. Rich products make Ecuador the third fastest growing economy in South America. According to the scientific report "Towards 2030" released by UNESCO in 2020, Ecuador is committed to a substantial increase in domestic scientific researchers, and the number of scientific research articles in Latin America has increased by 152% compared with 2010. Ecuador even included national technological innovation in its 2008 constitution, making Ecuador the only country in Latin America that incorporated traditional knowledge and technological innovation into the highest-level laws.

Today we will take a look at the patent system in Ecuador.

Introduction to Ecuador's patent system

1. Ecuadorian patent application filing language

For Spanish, a Spanish translation must be submitted at the same time as the application, and a supplementary Spanish translation is not accepted.

2. Types of patent protection in Ecuador:

Inventions, utility models, designs

3. Paths for Chinese applicants to apply for patents in Ecuador

Paris Convention, via Nationalization of PCT to Ecuador national phase entry, direct application

4. Review unit:

National Service of Intellectual Rights, National Service of Intellectual Rights, referred to as SENADI.

5. Review process

A patent application in Ecuador is subject to formality examination and substantive examination, and a request for substantive examination must be submitted within 6 months after the publication of the application, but the time limit for the payment of substantive examination fees is specified by the examiner. Utility models are subject to substantive examination just like inventions. Designs in Ecuador, on the other hand, will be subject to substantive examination when there is an opposition supported by an earlier and more effective date of right, or when there is a clear lack of novelty.

6. Authorization and annual fee

Ecuador does not charge granted fees, and the annual fee for inventions and utility models starts to be paid year by year from the filing date, and should be paid before the last day of the month in which the filing date is located each year. There is a 6 month late payment period.

Features of Ecuadorian Patents

1. The average granting time of patent examination in Ecuador is 5-10 years. At present, Ecuador's patent authority has joined the Andean Community and can expedite the examination through the Andean PPH;

2. The President of Ecuador may declare a patent as a compulsory license at any time based on the judgment of the country's situation and out of national emergency public interest or national security considerations, but the government will provide compensation to the patentee;

3. Ecuador's Intellectual Property Law and Resolution 486 of the Andes Community have established an advanced system to give appropriate protection and defense to the holders of intellectual property rights.

Friendliness to Chinese applicants:

★★★

Gold content of patent rights:

★★

The degree of perfection of the rights protection mechanism:

★★