COSTA RICA Law and Practice Contributed by: Harry Zurcher, Marco López Volio and Kristel Faith Neurohr, Zurcher, Odio & Raven
12. Additional Considerations 12.1 Emerging Issues Recent emerging issues in Costa Rica include: • electronic filing and a complete registration procedure now being available; and • electronic certificates now being available. There have not been notable cases in Costa Rica recently. Courts may cite foreign cases or juris - prudence, especially if the jurisdiction cited has a similar law system or is a signatory to the same treaty as Costa Rica. 12.2 Trade Mark and Copyright Use on the Internet There are no special rules for trade marks in the internet nor service provider liability. However, general liability and compensation principles apply since the liability for online infringement is no different than the liability in in-person com - merce. If the service provider is not acting dili - gently and is favouring the infringement, they could be liable for damages under civil liability principles (eg, for not responding or co-operat - ing in duly justified requests).
ent administrative court, whose interpretation may be different from the Trademark Office’s (even under the same arguments). In both cases, a hearing will be served, and the applicant can file the relevant arguments to try to overcome the refusal of the application. The appeal notice (a simple notice without arguments) must be filed within three days. The Administrative Board of Appeal Board in the next three to four months will deliver a note of accept - ance to present the formal appeal (with all the arguments and evidence) within a period of 15 business days. As a rule, deadlines cannot be extended. However, the applicant may attempt to request an extension of time to obtain or pre - sent additional documents or evidence, at the discretion of the Administrative Board of Appeal, based on its interpretation of how necessary it is to grant it. 11.2 Timeframes for Appealing Trial Court Decisions In civil proceedings, the first instance court deci - sion can be appealed to an appellate court. The competent appeals court and the timeframe to submit the appeal will depend on the total sum claimed in the lawsuit. For low claim proceed - ings, the appeal has to be filed before the Civil Appeals Court within five days of the notice of the first instance court decision. For lawsuits that exceed the low claim thresholds, the appeal has to be filed within 15 days before the First Chamber of the Supreme Court.
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