Opinion ID: 681080
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Venezuela

Text: 35 Venezuela, another civil law country, has adopted a mixed version of the attributive system of trademarks. Both registration and use are protected, but registration is required to enjoy exclusivity of use. Article 3 of the 1955 Law of Industrial Property provides: 36 Art. 3. The person in whose name an industrial invention, improvement, model or design, or a commercial trademark, theme or denomination has been registered on the corresponding registry's books is presumed to be the owner. 37 The statute does not say that the registrant is the owner, only that the registrant is presumed to be the owner. If one can prove he has a better right to the mark because of use, one can oppose registration of another or sue to cancel registration of a mark. Registration of a trademark at the Trademark Office confers exclusivity of use upon the owner for a renewable period of 15 years. (Arts. 30 & 31.) The right to exclusive use, however, is limited to a class of products registered in accordance with the official classification. Thus, Article 32 provides: 38 Art. 32. The right to use a trademark exclusively is acquired only in relation to the class of products, activities or firms for which they have been registered in accordance with the official classification established in Article 106. 39 Failure to use the trademark for two consecutive years results in the loss of the mark. (Art. 36(d).) Subsequent use or use by a non-registered licensee does not revive a trademark that has expired for lack of legal use under Art. 36(d). When assigning or transferring or granting any rights with respect to a trademark, this must be noted on the margin of the mark's registration. (Art. 46.) 40 The reason that Venezuela is regarded as having a mixed system is that a person who has used a trademark but has not registered it can successfully oppose registration of the mark to a third party, or, within two years of a third party's registration, request cancellation of the mark. 41 Venezuela is a party to the Andean Pact. Decision 24 of the Andean Group, adopted in Cartagena in 1972, contains basic provisions affecting common treatment of foreign trademarks and other intellectual property. Under the common scheme adopted by the Andean Pact countries, trademark ownership is based upon registration rather than use. An additional registration is required under the Andean Pact, and the specialized governmental body that is charged with implementation of Decision 24 in Venezuela is SIEX (Superintendencia de Inversiones Extranjeras--Superintendency of Foreign Investments), which began to function in 1975. All contracts or other agreements for the transfer of intellectual property, in any form or regardless of whether royalties or fees are permitted, must be approved and registered by SIEX or the Ministry of Energy and Mines in the respective areas of jurisdiction. Any trademark licensing agreement that is not properly registered with SIEX has no legal validity in Venezuela and cannot be defended in the Venezuelan courts. Article 18 of Decision 24 of the Cartagena Agreement provides: 42 Every contract on importation of technology and or patents and trademarks, must be examined and submitted for the approval of the competent body of the respective Member Country, which must appraise the effective contribution of the imported technology, by means of an estimate of probable profits, the price of goods containing technology, or other specific forms of measuring the effects of the imported technology. 43 Pursuant to Article 25, licensing contracts for the exploitation of trademarks of foreign origin in the territory of the Member Countries, may not contain restrictive clauses such as: a prohibition or limitation on exporting or selling in certain countries products manufactured under cover of the respective trademark, establishment of prices of sale or resale of the products manufactured under cover of the trademarks, or an obligation to pay royalties to the owner of the trademark for trademarks that are not used. Article 7 of Decree 746 of February 11, 1975, provides: 44 All technology, patent, and trademark contracts that foreign, mixed or national companies contemplate signing must receive prior Superintendency of Foreign Investments authorization and must be registered after signing with the Superintendency of Foreign Investments. The Superintendency must, in each case, decide within sixty legal working days following the day the petition is submitted, whether a contract is acceptable. 45 Although the Andean Pact has modified its common regime on foreign investment considerable, the registration requirement has been maintained. Articles 61, 62, and 71 of Venezuelan Decree 656 of August 12, 1985, continue the requirement, providing: 46 Art. 61. All contracts that are projected to be celebrated by foreign, mixed or national enterprises with respect to the importation of technology and use in exploitation of patents and trademarks, whatever the modalities, must be authorized and registered by the Superintendency of Foreign Investments. 47 Art. 62. All documents containing minutes, contracts or agreements of any nature, to be carried out within the national territory, whether or not they provide for payment or counter services, are subject to authorization and registration in accordance with the foregoing Article. Specifically subject to said authorization and registration are those relating to the following items: 48 1. Concession of the use or authorization for the exploitation of trademarks and distribution of products identified by trademarks owned by foreigners. 49 Art. 71. Payments of remuneration agreed to in the agreements or contracts referred to in Articles 61 and 62 of these regulations will be suspended until they are registered with the Superintendency of Foreign Investments. 50 On July 16, 1986, Venezuela adopted Decree 1200, which produced complaints that it was abandoning the Andean Pact common foreign investment and technology regime. Article 65 of Decree 1200, however, continues the prior registration requirement. 51 Art. 65. All contracts that foreign, mixed and national companies plan to execute for the importation of technology and on the use and exploitation of patents and trademarks, regardless of the forms adopted, must be authorized and registered by the Superintendency of Foreign Investment. 52 Article 66 provides that any technology contracts that did not contain clauses prohibited by Andean Pact Decision 24 and that did not provide for royalties in excess of 5% of net technological sales or 3% of net profits are automatically authorized, but still subject to the registration requirement. Article 67 states that any intellectual property licensing agreement intended to have effects within Venezuela has to be registered with SIEX. 53 The restrictions on technology licensing imposed by Decision 24 were relaxed in ANCOM Decisions 220 and 224, but the registration requirements were reiterated. On January 26, 1990, Venezuela adopted Decree No. 727 which was designed to implement decisions 220 and 224 of the Andean Pact. Article 62 of this Decree authorizes virtually all foreign technology licensing by foreign firms, but such license agreements must be presented to SIEX for registration within 60 days after their celebration. Article 64 makes it explicit that so long as a trademark license has effects in Venezuela, it must be submitted for registration with SIEX. 54 In addition to the Andean Pact and SIEX rules, Article 4 of the Venezuelan Industrial Property Law requires that trademark licenses must be recorded at the Trademark Office in order for use by the licensee to inure to the benefit of the trademark owner. Before recording a license at the Trademark Office, one must first record the license with SIEX. 55 Venezuela is not a party to the Paris Convention. Decision 85 of June 5, 1974, of the Andean Commission, however, contains language that provides some protection to notorious marks. Articles 58(g) and 58(j) state that trademarks cannot be registered in an Andean Pact country if they might be confused with other prominently known and registered marks within the country or abroad, covering identical products or services or cannot be registered except by their owners if they are translations of trademarks already registered in another language, or are well known foreign marks. Moreover, Venezuela's concept of the better right permits foreign trademark holders to secure protection against pirates who register foreign marks. Many years may pass before the legitimate owner is ultimately successful. Venezuela has no registry for notorious marks, which often pass examiners and are allowed to be registered by third parties.