VENEZUELA Law and Practice Contributed by: Dana Bentata, Anette Beyer and Biddy Fraga Bentata, Bentata Abogados
manner of use is sufficiently distinct such that there is no likelihood of confusion with the registered mark. • Registered user and licensing – Under Article 4 of the LPI, use of a mark by a recorded licensee constitutes authorised use and does not infringe the owner’s rights. However, use by an unrecorded licensee does not confer the same protection. • Own - name defence – The use of a person’s own name or the name under which a business has historically traded may constitute a partial defence, particularly where that use pre-dates the registra- tion in question and is not made in a manner calcu- lated to cause confusion. However, this defence is narrowly applied, and the presentation and manner of use will be determinative. 2.6 Trade Mark Enforcement and Remedies Under the LPI, trade mark infringement encompasses the wilful use, manufacture or execution of registered marks or signs likely to cause confusion with them. Liability also extends to those who fraudulently hold out an establishment as a branch of another bear- ing a registered trade name, and to those who wil- fully exploit the industrial or commercial reputation acquired through another’s efforts. Jurisdiction, Proceedings, Remedies and Border Enforcement Trade mark disputes follow the same jurisdictional and procedural framework as patent disputes, and the same civil and criminal remedies are available. Oppositions based on claims of better right are filed before the IP Office but are heard by the Court of First Instance in Civil Matters. Venezuela likewise does not maintain a standing customs watchlist or recorda- tion system for trade marks. See 1.6 Patent Enforce- ment and Remedies – “Limited Border Enforcement”, “Jurisdiction and Proceedings” and “Remedies”. Validity Challenges The LPI provides two routes for challenging the validity of a trade mark registration. The first is administrative annulment under the LOPA, which is available where a registration was granted in contravention of the LPI and may be initiated by the IP Office at any time.
The second is a nullity action brought before the com- petent courts under Article 84 of the LPI, available to a third party where the registration was granted to the prejudice of that party’s rights, provided the third party did not previously oppose the registration of the mark. An administrative decision issued in December 2025 has interpreted the “competent courts” referenced in Article 84 to be the First and Second National Courts of the Capital Region Administrative Litigation Juris- diction ( Juzgados Nacionales Primero y Segundo de la Jurisdiccion Contencioso Administrative de la Region Capital ). 3. Copyright 3.1 Legal Framework and Copyrightable Works Copyright protection is governed by the Copyright Law of 1993 ( Ley Sobre el Derecho de Autor , or LDA), which protects original literary, scientific and artistic works, regardless of their form of expression, merit or purpose. The LDA gives effect to Venezuela’s obli- gations as a signatory to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, which underpins the statute’s automatic protection principle, the absence of formality requirements, and the exten- sion of protection to foreign works originating in other member states on a national treatment basis. The LDA takes a broad and inclusive approach to pro- tectable subject matter: scope expressly extends to works relating to literature, music, the stage, photog- raphy, audiovisual creation, topography, architecture and science. The statute also recognises derivative and compiled works, including translations, adapta- tions, transformations, arrangements, anthologies and databases, where the selection or arrangement of the contents constitutes a personal creation. Chapter II of the LDA sets out a series of permitted uses, allowing the reproduction of certain works in lim- ited circumstances without the author’s consent. Arti- cle 17 of the LDA also extends protection to computer programs, which are broadly defined as the expres- sion, in any language, notation or code, of instructions intended to cause a computer to perform a specific task or function, regardless of the form in which it is
421 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook