COSTA RICA Law and Practice Contributed by: Harry Zurcher, Marco López Volio and Kristel Faith Neurohr, Zurcher, Odio & Raven
for the party to pursue the matters through the administrative conflict or criminal routes.
mately acquired the copyright will enjoy it for a period of 70 years. 6.2 Licensing Requirements or Restrictions Costa Rican law does not apply specific restric - tions or requirements for licences, so gen - eral contractual law applies. Licences are not required to be registered before the Trademark Office to be effective. According to Costa Rican law, exclusive and non-exclusive licences are accepted. Licence agreements must contain the: • type of licence; • territory; and • duration. In the absence of any stipulation to the contrary, in a licence agreement, the following rules will be applicable. • The licensee will have the right to use the trade mark during the entire term of the regis - tration, including renewals, throughout Costa Rica and regarding all the goods or services for which the trade mark is registered. • The licensee cannot assign the licence or grant sub-licences. • Where the licence has been granted as exclu - sive, the licensor may not grant other licences in respect of the same trade mark or the same goods or services nor may they use the trade mark in Costa Rica in relation to those goods or services. Licence archival rights are not contemplated by law. However, if the parties contractually agree to it, it would be allowed.
6. Assignments and Licensing 6.1 Assignment Requirements and Restrictions Trade mark assignments must be recorded before the Trademark Office. An assignment document (with specific requirements) as well as a power of attorney must be filed with the application. Assignment documents must: • be signed by the assignor and the assignee; • include the trade mark(s) to be assigned; If preceding changes in ownership were not recorded, they must be made simultaneously at the time that the new change in ownership is recorded. Assignments of partial rights of trade marks and copyrights are permitted (eg, percentages are assigned). • be valued; and • be apostilled. If the owner of the trade mark is an individual, standard succession rules apply, as the intellec - tual property is considered part of the estate of the deceased individual. If the owner is a legal entity, the death should be understood as dis- solution or liquefaction, and an executor must be named to execute the dissolution or liquefac - tion through which the transmission of the trade mark will be determined. Copyright is permanent throughout the life of the author. After their death, those who have legiti -
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