COSTA RICA Law and Practice Contributed by: Maricruz Villanea Villegas, Roberto Arguello, Edna Lopez and Leyla Harper-Dominique, IDEAS IP
IDEAS IP Prisma Business Center, Suites 302 and 306 Escazú Costa Rica Tel: +506 2288 5797 Email: mmora@ideasips.com Web: www.ideasips.com
1. Patents 1.1 Legal Framework and Patentable Subject Matter Sources of Law Patent protection in Costa Rica is governed by the Patent Law (Law No 6867 of 1983) and its regulations, along with the Biodiversity Law (Law No 7788 of 1998) for biotech matters. Costa Rica is also bound by the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the “TRIPS Agreement”), the Paris Convention, the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and the Dominican Republic–Central America–United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR). Case law carries no binding authority; the system relies on writ- ten law and regulations. What is Patentable? An invention must be new, involve an inventive step and be industrially applicable. Both product and pro- cess patents are available. Pharmaceutical, chemical and mechanical inventions are routinely granted. Exclusions Costa Rica excludes the following from patentability: • discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods; • plant and animal varieties, and essential biological processes for producing them; • therapeutic, surgical and diagnostic methods for treating humans or animals; • computer programmes; • business methods; and • inventions contrary to public order or morality.
There is no specific statutory framework addressing AI-generated inventions – as of now, the existing rules apply, meaning AI-assisted inventions may qualify but an AI system itself cannot be named as inventor. Utility Models Utility models are available under the Patent Law. They require novelty and industrial applicability but no inventive step, making them a practical option for incremental innovations. Protection lasts ten years from filing, compared to 20 years for patents. 1.2 Patent Granting Procedure Procedure for Obtaining a Patent in Costa Rica The Registry of Industrial Property ( Registro de la Propiedad Industrial ), under the National Registry, is responsible for examining and granting patents. The applicant files the application directly or through a local representative. Formal examination verifies that all documents are in order (title, description, claims, abstract, drawings). Once formalities are met, the application is published in La Gaceta for a 30-busi- ness-day opposition period. If no opposition is filed, or once any opposition is resolved, the Registry pro- ceeds to substantive examination, relying on prior art searches from other patent offices or submitted by the applicant. From filing to grant typically takes three to five years. Official government fees are modest by regional standards; professional fees for local representa- tion add to the overall cost. Local representation is required for foreign applicants.
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