Chile: Nice Classification

According to a new Resolution published on July 20 in the Chilean Official Journal, from September 1st 2010 the registration of trade marks will be made only based on the International Classification of Goods and Services under the Nice Agreement 9th edition.

The Chilean Instituto Nacional de Propiedad Intelectual (INAPI), reporting the news, explains that this “adoption will help to harmonize our practices of classification of goods and services trade marks with other countries, and greatly simplify the process by allowing the applications to refer to the version that, is being used by similar offices abroad.”

The communication continues by mentioning that it will “greatly facilitate the preparation of applications, as the products and services to which a mark is applied will be classified in the same way in all countries that use it. This 9th edition is available in several languages (English, French and Spanish), which saves work to the applicants who must submit a list of products and services in a language other than the country of origin of the trade mark.”

The Nice Classification consists of a classification of goods and services for the purposes of registering trade marks and service marks which is open to Member States party to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. Chile is member since 1991.