– Patent Law No. 6867 of April 23, 1983, as amended.
– Regulations to the Patent Law, Executive Decree No. 15222-MIEM-J of December 12, 1983, as amended.
– Law for Declaring of Public Interest Importation of Medicines No. 6219 of April 19, 1978, as amended.
– Biodiversity Law No. 7788 of April 30, 1998, as amended.
– Observance Procedures of Intellectual Property Rights Law No. 8033 of October 12, 2001, as amended.
– Administrative Rules on the Service of the Administrative Registration Court, Executive Decree No. 35456-J of March 30, 2009.
– Administrative Rules on Appointment of External Examiners to the Patent Office of the Industrial Property Registrar No. J135 of March 18, 2010.
– Administrative Rules on Prosecution of Appeals before the Administrative Registration Court, approved in Session 46-2016 of November 28, 2016.

– Convention of Buenos Aires 1921.
– Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), since June 10, 1981.
– GATT – Uruguay Round Table 1994.
– WTO’s TRIPS Agreement, since January 1, 1995.
– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Stockholm Act, since October 31, 1995.
– Patent Cooperation Treaty 1970 (PCT), since August 3, 1999.
– Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure, since September 30, 2008.
– Dominican Republic – Central America – United States of America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA), since November 21, 2007.
– The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille), since December 14, 2011.
– Manual of Organization and Examination of Patent Applications of the Industrial Property Offices of the Central American Isthmus and Dominican Republic, as provided by Executive Decree No. 38308-JP of April 24, 2014.

Applicant: the inventor or the assignee.

Nationals or foreigners not living in the country: must appoint a resident lawyer.

Protection of foreigners: same as for nationals.

Naming of inventor(s): inventor may submit a written request to not be named, must be legalized/apostilled.

Notion of the invention: new products, tools, mechanical devices, manufacturing processes and improvements.

Novelty (notion): absolute, i.e. destroyed by printed publication or public use of the invention in any country prior to the date of application in Costa Rica or prior to the corresponding priority date.

Novelty grace period: one year prior to the priority date.

Unpatentable subject matter: (a) inventions, the use of which would necessarily need to be stopped to protect public order, morality, people or animals' health or to avoid severe environmental damage; (b) therapeutic, diagnostic, surgical methods, or compositions applicable to the treatment of humans or animals; (c) plants and animals, except microorganisms not found in nature; (d) essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals, except for non-biological or microbiological processes; (e) in general, inventions lacking novelty or those that do not substantially modify a prior invention.

Kinds of protection: patents of invention, utility models, industrial designs and models.

Confirmation patents: may be obtained for the time during which the foreign patent has still to run but may not exceed twenty years after the filing date in the country of origin.

Secret patents: no secret patents in Costa Rica.

Priorities: twelve months under the Paris Convention.

Territory covered: Republic of Costa Rica.

Foreign filing restrictions: none.

Filing requirements for an application (to be sent to resident agent):
1. Power of attorney, notarized;
2. Specification with claims and abstract;
3. Drawings (if any);
4. Translation into Spanish of specification with claims, drawings and abstract, if filed in any language other than Spanish;
5. Certified copy of priority application or home registration;
6. Assignment document if applicant is not the inventor, with Apostille or legalized by a Costa Rican Consulate, alternatively, declaration as to the applicant's entitlement.

Requirements for a PCT application:
1. Power of attorney, notarized;
2. Specification with claims and abstract;
3. Drawings (if any);
4. Translation into Spanish of specification with claims, drawings and abstract, if filed in any language other than Spanish;
5. Assignment document if applicant is not the inventor, with Apostille or legalized by a Costa Rican Consulate; alternatively, declaration as to the applicant's entitlement, according to Rule 4.17(ii) of the Regulations under the PCT.

Time limit for entering the national phase: 31 months for both Chapters I and II.

Minimum requirements to obtain a filing date: name of applicant and inventor(s), payment of filing fee, specification with claims, abstract and drawings.

Term for filing the missing documents: in practice, the Patent Office grants a two-month term. As of November 1, 2014 applicants filing through a de facto agent (granting an additional one month for filing of the power of attorney, for a total of three months, are required to submit an apostilled or legalized Certificate of Incorporation within ten days as of the filing date). 

Electronic filing: available.

For a change of name:
1. Change of name document, a certified copy of said document or an extract thereof, with Apostille or legalized;
2. Power of attorney, notarized.

For a change of address:
1. Power of attorney, notarized.

Amendment of application: provided for.

Alterations: provided for, unless involving substantive broadening of scope or change in original application.

Interference: provided for.

Process claims: permitted.

Prior user: rights recognized.

Disputes about ownership: must be brought before the ordinary courts in civil or administrative suits after granting the patent, depending on the case.

Disputes about novelty: can be raised within oppositions or brought before the ordinary courts in administrative suits.

Examination: as to form, sufficiency, inventive step, industrial applicability and novelty, under the Manual of Organization and Examination of Patent Applications of the Industrial Property Offices of the Central American Isthmus and Dominican Republic.

Accelerated examination: not provided for.

Division: provided for. Under Art. 19.4 of the Patent Regulations a divisional application can be filed if there is a lack of unity refusal and as long as a definitive grant or refusal decision has not been issued.

Opposition to application filed: deadline for filing opposition is three months after publication; evidence in support can be filed up to two months afterwards.

Application kept secret: secrecy kept until publication.

Provisional registration: not provided for.

Corrections: provided for during prosecution of the application.

Publication: in the Official Journal and in a newspaper at beginning of proceedings (before substantive examination), and in the Official Journal after granting of the patent. At applicant’s request, publication can be deferred for up to twelve months.

Delivery of document: the official certificate is issued in paper format only.

Beginning of protection: from the date of filing of the application or the applicable priority date but it does not become effective until the patent is granted.

Duration: twenty years from the filing date.

Extension: if issuance is delayed, one day for each day of delay, with a limit of eighteen months. Delay is considered to take place if issuance takes more than five years after filing or more than three years after examination has begun, without taking into account the terms when action by the applicant is expected.

Annuities: U.S.$ 500 per year; can be paid in advance. Annuities counting from the filing date are payable no later than two months after grant of the application. 

Supplementary Protection Certificates for pharmaceuticals or plant protection products: not provided for.

Marking of patented goods: not compulsory.

Amendment of issued patents: not provided for.

Revocation: can be obtained by a party with a legitimate interest through an administrative suit brought before an ordinary court in some cases, in others before the Patents of Invention Registry. Formal grounds are not a cause for revocation.

Assignment: must be recorded in the Register of Patents. The assignment deed requires legalization by a Costa Rican Consulate or Apostille under the Hague Convention, alternatively, declaration as to the applicant's entitlement.

License for exploitation: provided for.

Working: compulsory. Working must begin within three years from the date of registration or four years from the date of filing (whatever is longer) and for the term of the patent. Working must not be interrupted for more than one year or it can lead to compulsory licenses at a third party’s request.

Working conditions: industrial exploitation. The publication of an advertisement or the offer to license is not considered as validly working the invention.

Abandonment of patent: may not be allowed to lapse passively due to lack of payment of annuities; a formal filing and procedure is required.

Rights of prior user: recognized.

Opposition to granted patents: is a matter of ordinary law.

Compulsory licenses, expropriation: if the invention is not worked, it must be licensed; public utility licenses when public reasons so demand.

Nullification: if a patent is not worked, it may lapse ex officio or the Industrial Property Registry may request a third party to work the patent; third parties may also file nullification actions before the Registry at any time before expiration of the patent.

Validation of invalidated patents: not possible.

Infringement: in August 2008, Congress abolished crimes against trade secret, patent, design and utility model infringement; actions may still be brought before ordinary civil courts.

Enforcement: ordinary courts may adopt provisional measures, dictate preliminary or permanent injunctions, grant damages and adopt other remedies. The Patent Office also has powers under the law to dictate provisional measures and preliminary injunctions, but the corresponding legal provisions are currently being challenged and their application has been suspended.