Mid-Term Declarations Now Required in Argentina

On May 27, 2019, the Argentine Trademark Office issued Resolution No. 123/2019 (the Resolution), which added mid-term declarations of use, created grace periods for renewals and created response periods of 30 days for most official actions.

Generally, the most relevant change under the Resolution is that trademark owners must now file a mid-term declaration of use between the fifth and sixth anniversaries of a registration granted on or after January 12, 2013. Due to the retroactive impact of the Resolution, an automatic extension ending on January 12, 2020, is in place to allow trademark owners to comply with this obligation for registrations that would have otherwise expired or would expire prior to the deadline.

Failure to submit the mid-term declaration of use will lead to the rebuttable presumption that the mark has not been used in Argentina. While the presumption does not result in the cancellation of the mark, it does make the registration vulnerable to attacks by third parties.