PANAMA Law and Practice Contributed by: Rafael Rivera, Javier José Vallarino, Juan Vallarino, Karen Y. Tejeira and Carolina Lino, BDO Legal Panama
terfeit products within the commerce or importation, exportation or transit throughout Panama. Registration of the trade mark title, as well as speci - mens of the products, with the Trade Zones and the National Authority of Customs enables entities to promptly identify counterfeit products and to stop them before they reach their destination or enter Pan - amanian commerce. Once the products are seized, the trade mark owner can start a counterfeit proce - dure in Panama. It is important to note that not having registered the trade marks in these authorities will not affect the ability of the trade mark owner to take meas - ures against counterfeits, however, such a measure provides another source of enforcement. Remedies All remedies in Panama are resolved in the judicial branch in the Commerce and Competence Courts. Cease and desist letters are commonly used but not recognised by law. Trade mark owners are able to start procedures such as infringement procedures, cancel - lation actions for non-use and nullity procedures. Also, non-authorised use of a trade mark and/or copying constitute a crime under the Criminal Code, which could be subject to prosecution. 7.3 Industrial Designs In Panama, industrial designs and models are recog - nised and protected under the Industrial Property Law. These two categories differ primarily in their dimen - sional characteristics. Both are eligible for legal pro - tection provided they meet the statutory requirements. An industrial model refers to any three-dimensional form that serves as a prototype or pattern for the man - ufacture of an industrial product, giving it a distinctive appearance. Meanwhile, an industrial design, on the other hand, consists of any combination of figures, lines or colours incorporated into an industrial product for ornamental purposes. To qualify for protection, both must meet the criteria of novelty and industrial applicability. If these condi - tions are met and the design or model has been dis - closed without prior registration, it will be granted a protection period of three years from the date of its
first disclosure in Panama, what is known as unregis - tered industrial designs. Additionally, protection may be obtained through for - mal registration, which grants exclusive rights for a period of ten years from the filing date in Panama. Upon request by the rights holder, this term may be renewed for an additional five years. 7.4 Copyright Copyright law is primarily focused on works of a lit - erary, scientific or artistic nature. It is a declarative process rather than a constitutive one, meaning that rights arise from the creation of the work itself and not from its registration. The duration of copyright protection depends on the type of work; however, as a general rule, it is recog - nised for the lifetime of the author and for 70 years following their death. All remedies in Panama are resolved in the judicial branch in the Commerce and Competence Courts. Cease and desist letters are commonly used but not recognised by law. Copyright owners are permitted to start infringement proceedings in the civil and criminal branch. 7.5 Others The intellectual property protection applicable to soft - ware in Panama is governed by Law No 64 of 10 Octo - ber 2012. This statute regulates copyright and related rights. Chapter II of the Law specifically addresses computer programs (software) and provides that they are protected under the same terms and conditions applicable to literary works. Furthermore, the Law establishes that such protection extends to any suc - cessive versions of the software, as well as to any derivative works created from it. In addition, Law No 35 of 10 May 1996, which estab - lishes provisions relating to industrial property, pro - vides in Article 1 that one of its purposes is the pro - tection of, among other rights, industrial and trade secrets. In this regard, Title IV of said Law, entitled “Indus - trial and Trade Secrets,” provides that an industrial
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