Patents of Invention

Costa Rica is a member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). Foreign applicants require appointment of an attorney in good standing before the Costa Rican authorities.

The filing deadline is 31 months from the earliest priority date.

• Notarized power of attorney (if not already on-file at PTO)*
• Spanish translation of description, claims, abstract and drawings
• Copy of assignment document (for declaration under PCT Rule 4.17)

  ^*  Must be submitted within the peremptory deadline of 2 months after the filing date.  Apostille or consular legalization is optional.

The Costa Rican Industrial Property Registry requires an affidavit by individuals to qualify for a fee reduction (it’s a rather quaint local requirement, but luckily easy to fulfill).

The official filing language is Spanish, exclusively.  We do not require to prepare the translation of documents written in a foreign language ourselves; we can work with third party translations without additional cost. It is possible to review and amend the translation, if required, until just before substantive examination (approx. 48 months after filing, unless accelerated examination is required).

Our translation costs, depending on source language, complexity and volume range from US$0.2 to US$0.6 per word of the target language.

Upon grant, the applicant will be required to pay back annuities generated during prosecution at the rate of $500/yr, plus publication of the grant (est. $25).