– Patent and Utility Model Law No. 24.481, amended by Law No. 24.572 (T.O. 1996), in force since January 1, 1995, amended by Law No. 27444 of June 18, 2018.

– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (Lisbon Act: Art. 1-12; Stockholm Act: Art. 13-30).
– Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), since October 8, 1980.
– The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille), in force since February 18, 1988.
– WTO’s TRIPS Agreement, since January 1, 1995.
– Strasbourg Agreement Concerning the International Patent Classification, since September 13, 2008.

Applicant: the inventor or his legal assignee, regardless of whether it is an individual or a body corporate. In applications claiming Convention priority: applicant of the basic foreign application or his legal assignee.

Foreigners and nationals not living in the country: are granted the same rights as Argentine nationals and residents, but have to appoint a representative domiciled in Argentina. The representative has to be either a patent agent or a person legally authorized by a power of attorney.

Naming of the inventor(s): not required.

Types of patents: ordinary patents, patents of addition.

Novelty: an invention is considered novel if it has not been published in books, pamphlets or periodicals in this country or abroad to enable it to be worked and if it has not been worked in Argentina prior to the application filing date.

Novelty grace period: publication made by the inventor (or his successor in right) within one year prior to the filing of the application (or priority date) shall not destroy the novelty.

Not patentable: methods of surgical, therapeutic or diagnostic treatment applicable to human body, financial plans, inventions of a mere theoretical character with no evidence of their practical use in industry; inventions contrary to morals or to the laws of the country.

Filing requirements for an application (to be sent to resident agent):
1. Power of attorney signed by the applicant(s), if individual, or executive officer of the applicant company, before a Notary Public and legalized by an Argentine Consulate or Apostille (The Hague Convention of Oct. 5, 1961);
2. 1 copy of specification, for translation into Spanish;
3. Drawings, if any; 1 set on tracing cloth (linen), 1 set on Bristol board, and 2 sets of white copies (informal drawings should be submitted simultaneously with the application);
4. When claiming Convention priority: certified copy of the basic foreign application (Note: as of March 2, 2020 the PTO is a participating office under the WIPO DAS Agreement. As such, the document can be replaced by the WIPO DAS code number);
5. In applications filed under convention, if the applicant in Argentina differs from the applicant figuring in the basic foreign application, assignment from the foreign applicant is necessary.

Note: all documents to be submitted to the Argentine Patent Office must measure 21 cm by 29.7 cm. The documents 1, 4, 5 may be filed within ninety days from the filing date.

Electronic filing: available. 

Electronic signatures: are not accepted (only wet signatures).

Filing in a foreign language: only in rush cases, the specification might be submitted in the original language, along with a translation of the first page of the specification, some of the claims and the abstract. However, this procedure entails increased costs, as a sworn translation (not merely a simple translation) of the specification into Spanish is to be submitted within ten days as from the filing date.

For a change of name:
1. A certified copy of the document issued by the Registrar of Companies or the like, legalized by Apostille;
2. Power of attorney reflecting the new name, notarized and legalized.

For a change of address: no document is required.

Publication: the application is published within eighteen months from the filing date. Objections of third parties can be submitted within sixty days from the publication date.

Examination: all applications for ordinary patents, additional patents are first subject to a formal examination. The substantive examination should be requested within a non-extendible term of eighteen months from the filing date. When the Examiner issues his report there is usually a term of two months to deal with the Office action; this term may be extended by three thirty-day extensions of time, which are automatically allowed.

Accelerated examination: not possible. 

PPH: in force as of October 15, 2016 (Rule 56/2016). The PTO might consider that a local application meets patentability requirements if the case from which Convention priority has been claimed (or an equivalent foreign case claiming the same priority invoked by the Argentine application) has been granted, to the extent the laws of the foreign jurisdiction provide for substantive examination and set patentability standards in line with those of the Argentine law. If such requirements are met, the applicant can file a voluntary petition for expedited prosecution under those cases which are still pending examination.

Division: on request of the Patent Office due to lack of unity, the application should be divided within thirty days as long as the first parent application is still pending.

Refusal: if a rejection notice is issued, the applicant can file an appeal within thirty days.

Delivery of document: the patent certificate is issued in digital format only.

Duration: ordinary patents are granted for a twenty-year duration (for application filed after January 1, 1995, fifteen years otherwise); additional patents are granted for the duration of the principal, or basic foreign patent respectively, but their protection cannot exceed ten years. Protection starts on the date of grant.

Annuities: as from April 2004, upon grant of the patent application, accumulated annuities should be paid on the anniversary of the filing date of the patent application. Grace period: six months with surcharge.

Working: compulsory within four years from the filing date or three years from grant, to avoid compulsory license if requested by third parties. Formal working not accepted.

Validation of invalidated patents: not possible.

Post-grant amendments: possible if submitted within ninety days as of grant.

Cancellation of granted patents: only by sentence of the Argentine courts.

Marking of patented goods: not required.

Penalty for infringement: fine or imprisonment from one up to six months with loss of infringing goods.

Enforcement: a granted patent is required to enforce rights or request a precautionary measure or an injunction.

Assignment: has no legal effect unless recorded at the Argentine Patent Office; the assignment document must be signed by the assignor and the assignee, both signatures to be legalized by an Argentine Consulate, or Apostille.