Trademarks, patents & intellectual property in the Dominican Republic

Why the Dominican Republic needs its own filing

Foreign or international trademark registrations do not automatically extend registered protection to the DR; Dominican registered rights require a national application before ONAPI under Law 20-00 on Industrial Property. Filing priority is important, but it is not absolute: the law recognises specified earlier-use, better-right, trade-name, well-known-sign and bad-faith grounds. Search and file early rather than rely on a foreign registration or marketplace history alone.

What our IP desk handles

• Availability searches — knock-out and full searches before you invest in a name.
• Trademark filing & prosecution — applications, office actions and publication through to certificate.
• Oppositions & cancellations — defending your application or challenging conflicting marks.
• Renewals & recordals — 10-year renewals, assignment recordals and optional licence recordals.
• Patents & industrial designs — protection for inventions, utility models and product designs.
• Copyright — registration of works before ONDA under Law 65-00.
• Enforcement — cease-and-desist strategy, customs measures and anti-counterfeiting actions.

The registration timeline

1. Search & strategy — classes selected under the Nice system; risks flagged before filing.
2. Filing at ONAPI — application lodged with priority date secured.
3. Formal and substantive examination — ONAPI reviews the application and may issue objections.
4. Publication & opposition — after examination, the application is published and third parties have 45 calendar days from publication to oppose.
5. Decision & certificate — after the opposition period, ONAPI decides the application and any opposition; a grant is valid for 10 years.

Launching a regulated product as well as a brand? Map the applicable DIGEMAPS product, establishment and shipment-level procedures alongside the mark; a product approval does not itself guarantee customs release.

Patents, utility models & industrial designs

The same Law 20-00 that protects your brand protects your inventions. The baseline term for an invention patent is 20 years from filing, subject to annual maintenance and any qualifying statutory adjustment under amended Article 27; utility models run for 15 years, and industrial designs for 5 years, renewable up to 15 — all examined and granted by ONAPI, all first-to-file, all prosecuted in Spanish.

Because the DR is a PCT contracting state, national-phase entry is generally due within 30 months of the earliest priority date, and Paris Convention priority is available for direct filings. Any relief after a missed deadline is fact-specific and should not be assumed. Our desk handles:

• PCT national-phase entries and direct patent filings before ONAPI.
• Certified Spanish translations of specifications and claims, coordinated with your patent counsel abroad.
• Prosecution end to end — office actions, publication and observations, through to grant.
• Annuities and term-maintenance filings on a monitored calendar, with current deadlines confirmed for each right.
• Assignments, recordals and licensing of granted rights.
• Patentability and freedom-to-operate searches in the Dominican register.

Frequently asked questions