Argentina’s National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) announced that ex officio or upon an applicant’s request, INPI may partially cancel a trademark in relation to the goods/services for which the trademark was not used, will come into effect on 12 June 2023.

Partial Cancellation in Argentina

To request for partial cancellation of a trademark in Argentina, the request must be submitted to the non-used trademark within 5 years of registration. The regulation states that a request submitted by an applicant will only be in force if the mark affects the applicant's subjective rights. For example, when a “non-used” trademark interferes or obstructs the applicant's trademark registration.

The partial cancellation by INPI ex officio will only take place if the following conditions are all fulfilled:-

• The registered trademark has not been used for a continuous period of 5 years;
• The trademark owner failed to submit the mid-term sworn statement of use established in the Trademarks Law;
• Its not a well-known mark in the terms of the Paris Convention and Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS); and
• The trademark owner has not registered the identical mark in a class to which it is related or associated to; or if it had, it had not filed a sworn statement of use in that class.

The trademark owner will be notified by the INPI of the cancellation of the registration. The owner will then be given 15 business days to submit the evidence to which it is entitled to. Once the notice has been responded to or the deadline for response has expired, INPI will proceed to issue a decision.

Exceptions to the Partial Cancellation

Partial cancellation will not take place when the owner proves that there are force majeure reasons preventing the use, nor will registered trademarks that are not used for certain goods/services expire.

Conclusion

This new legal remedy will give companies a powerful tool to cancel unused trademarks when seeking to enter the Argentine market. Therefore, to prevent your mark being partially cancelled, it is important to gather and record evidence of trademark use, at least once a year, in relation to as many goods/services as possible. It is also advisable to keep copies of any trademark ads that are published. In addition, it is essential that all evidence of use is dated, reliable and verifiable.