Sources of Law

Patent protection in Costa Rica is governed by the Patent Law (Law No 6867 of 1983) and its regulations, along with the Biodiversity Law (Law No 7788 of 1998) for biotech matters. Costa Rica is also bound by the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the “TRIPS Agreement”), the Paris Convention, the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and the Dominican Republic–Central America–United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR). Case law carries no binding authority; the system relies on written law and regulations.

What is Patentable?

An invention must be new, involve an inventive step and be industrially applicable. Both product and process patents are available. Pharmaceutical, chemical and mechanical inventions are routinely granted.

Exclusions

Costa Rica excludes the following from patentability:

• discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods;
• plant and animal varieties, and essential biological processes for producing them;
• therapeutic, surgical and diagnostic methods for treating humans or animals;
• computer programmes;
• business methods; and
• inventions contrary to public order or morality.

There is no specific statutory framework addressing AI-generated inventions – as of now, the existing rules apply, meaning AI-assisted inventions may qualify but an AI system itself cannot be named as inventor.

Utility Models

Utility models are available under the Patent Law. They require novelty and industrial applicability but no inventive step, making them a practical option for incremental innovations. Protection lasts ten years from filing, compared to 20 years for patents.

Procedure for Obtaining a Patent in Costa Rica

The Registry of Industrial Property (Registro de la Propiedad Industrial), under the National Registry, is responsible for examining and granting patents.

The applicant files the application directly or through a local representative. Formal examination verifies that all documents are in order (title, description, claims, abstract, drawings). Once formalities are met, the application is published in La Gaceta for a 30-business-day opposition period. If no opposition is filed, or once any opposition is resolved, the Registry proceeds to substantive examination, relying on prior art searches from other patent offices or submitted by the applicant. From filing to grant typically takes three to five years.

Official government fees are modest by regional standards; professional fees for local representation add to the overall cost. Local representation is required for foreign applicants.

Rights Conferred by a Granted Patent

A granted patent gives the owner the exclusive right to exploit the invention commercially, which includes manufacturing, using, selling, offering for sale, and importing the patented product or process. The owner can also licence these rights to third parties or assign the patent entirely. These rights are enforceable against any unauthorised use by third parties.

For process patents, protection extends not only to the process itself but also to the products directly obtained by that process.

Term of Protection

The standard term is 20 years from the filing date, with no possibility of extension. Once the term expires, the invention falls into the public domain.

Renewal and Maintenance Fees

Annual maintenance fees are required to keep the patent in force. If payment is missed, a grace period applies. Under Article 33 bis, if fees remain unpaid after the grace period, formal notices are issued under Article 150 of the General Law of Public Administration. Failure to pay triggers administrative and judicial debt collection. The patent does not automatically lapse – the state pursues owed fees through established channels.

Supplementary Protection Certificates and Term Extensions

Costa Rica does not have supplementary protection certificates. However, Article 17 of Law No 6867 provides two term compensation mechanisms. First, if the Registry takes more than five years from filing (or three years from the substantive examination request, whichever is later) to grant the patent, the owner may request a one-day extension per day of Registry delay, capped at 18 months. Second, for pharmaceutical patents, if the Ministry of Health takes more than three years to approve first commercialisation, the owner may request equivalent compensation, also capped at 18 months, provided the remaining term does not exceed 12 years. In both cases, the request must be filed within three months of the grant or sanitary registration approval, and applicant-caused delays are excluded.

Entitlement to Apply and Own a Patent

The right to a patent belongs primarily to the inventor. However, the application may be filed by the inventor, the inventor’s successor in title or any legal entity to whom the rights have been transferred. Joint inventions are owned jointly by all inventors unless otherwise agreed.

Employee Inventions

When an invention is made by an employee in the course of their employment, or using resources, information or means provided by the employer, the patent belongs to the employer. The employee retains the right to be named as inventor. If the invention goes beyond what was reasonably expected from the employee’s duties and the employer nonetheless claims it, the employee is entitled to fair compensation. These rules follow the general framework of Law No 6867.

University and Educational Institution Inventions

Costa Rican law does not have a specific statute equivalent to a Bayh-Dole-type regime for university inventions. In practice, public universities operate under their own internal regulations and organic laws, which typically assign ownership of inventions developed with institutional resources to the university. Private universities handle this through employment and research contracts. There is no unified national framework specifically governing this area.

Formal Requirements for Assignments and Licences

Assignments and licences must be in writing. Under Article 3 of Law No 6867, every transfer or licence of a patent must be recorded before the Registry of Industrial Property. Without that recordal, the assignment or licence has no legal effect against third parties. For documents executed abroad, authentication or apostille is required before the Registry will accept them for recordal.

Direct and Indirect Infringement

Under Law No 6867 and Law No 8039, direct infringement occurs when a third party, without the patent owner’s authorisation, manufactures, uses, sells, offers for sale or imports the patented product or process for commercial purposes. For process patents, direct infringement also covers products directly obtained by the patented process.

Costa Rican law does not have an explicit statutory provision defining indirect or contributory infringement in the way some jurisdictions do. There is no specific article addressing the supply of components or means that enable a third party to infringe. In practice, indirect infringement would need to be pursued through general civil law principles on liability, which is a less developed area in Costa Rican patent practice.

Scope of Protection

The scope of protection is determined by the claims as granted. The description and drawings serve to interpret the claims but do not expand them. Costa Rican law does not have an express statutory doctrine of equivalents, and there is no well-developed case law applying such a doctrine. In practice, protection tends to be interpreted based on the literal reading of the claims, though a court could in principle consider the overall teaching of the patent when interpreting claim scope.

Defences

Prior use

A third party who was already using the invention in good faith before the filing date may continue that use, though they cannot expand it.

Exhaustion

Costa Rica applies international exhaustion. Once the patent owner or a licensee has placed the patented product on the market anywhere in the world, the owner cannot use patent rights to prevent further commercialisation of that specific product, including its import into Costa Rica. Parallel imports are therefore legal under Costa Rican law.

Experimental use

Use of the patented invention strictly for scientific research or experimental purposes does not constitute infringement.

Regulatory approval (Bolar exemption)

Acts carried out solely to obtain regulatory approval for a product, such as a generic pharmaceutical, are permitted under Costa Rican law in line with CAFTA-DR commitments.

Compulsory licences

Law No 6867 provides for compulsory licences in cases of non-working of the patent, public interest, national emergency or anti-competitive practices. The government may also authorise public non-commercial use.

Courts and Bodies With Jurisdiction

Administrative validity challenges are filed before the Registry of Industrial Property. Civil infringement claims are brought before the civil courts (Juzgados Civiles), with appeals to the Tribunal de Apelaciones and ultimately the Sala Primera. Criminal enforcement for patent infringement was repealed – criminal complaints are no longer available for patents, unlike trade marks and copyrights.

Typical Timelines

Litigation in Costa Rica is slow. Civil infringement cases typically take three to five years to first instance judgment; administrative nullity proceedings take two to three years. Appeals extend timelines further, discouraging litigation as a first option.

Interaction Between Infringement and Validity Proceedings

Validity (Registry) and infringement (civil courts) are handled by separate bodies. A defendant may raise invalidity as a defence before the civil court, which may stay proceedings pending a nullity action. Costa Rica is not a member of the European Patent Convention (EPC); PCT applications are processed nationally through the Registry.

Interim and Ex Parte Injunctions

Interim measures are available under Law No 8039, including suspension of infringing activity, seizure of goods and preservation of evidence. Ex parte measures are available where urgency or prior notice would defeat the purpose. The applicant must post a bond to cover potential damages if the measure is later found unjustified.

Remedies for Infringement

Under Law No 8039, the following remedies are available:

• injunctions – the court can order the infringer to cease the infringing activity on a permanent basis;
• damages – the rights-holder can claim compensation for actual losses suffered as a result of the infringement, as well as lost profits caused by the infringing activity;
• destruction or disposal – infringing goods and materials used to produce them can be ordered destroyed or removed from commerce; and
• publication of the judgment – the court can order publication of the judgment at the infringer’s expense.

Attorneys’ Fees and Costs

Attorneys’ fees and costs are recoverable through the standard condena en costas mechanism under Costa Rican civil procedure. There is no special regulation for patent cases in this regard – the general civil procedure rules apply.

Laws Governing Trade Mark Protection

Trade mark protection in Costa Rica is governed primarily by the Trade Marks and Other Distinctive Signs Law (Law No 7978 of 2000) and its regulations. Law No 8039 (Law on Procedures for the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights) governs civil enforcement. Costa Rica is bound by the TRIPS Agreement, the Paris Convention and CAFTA-DR.

Types of Signs That Can Be Protected

Law No 7978 allows registration of a broad range of signs. The Registry of Industrial Property accepts word marks, figurative marks, combined marks, slogans, combinations of colours, three-dimensional shapes, sounds and scents.

Single colours alone are not registrable and are expressly excluded under Article 7 of Law No 7978. However, combinations of colours are accepted provided the applicant demonstrates distinctiveness. For three-dimensional marks, the Registry requires the applicant to submit five different views of the mark to allow a proper assessment of the shape being claimed.

Sound and scent marks are also accepted under Costa Rican law, making Costa Rica one of the few jurisdictions in the region that formally recognises these non-traditional mark types.

Unregistered and Well-Known Trade Marks

Costa Rica recognises protection beyond registered marks in two ways. First, prior use in Costa Rica is a recognised basis to oppose or challenge a registration under Article 17, even without a prior registered mark. Second, well-known marks are protected regardless of local registration under Article 8(e): a sign that reproduces, imitates or translates a well-known mark cannot be registered if its use would cause confusion, association or unfair advantage – protection extends across all goods and services.

Essential Elements of Trade Mark Protection

The fundamental requirement for registration under Law No 7978 is distinctiveness – the sign must be capable of distinguishing goods or services. Costa Rica follows a first-to-file system; prior use is not required to file but creates a preferential right. The sign must not fall within the absolute or relative grounds for refusal under Articles 7 and 8, which exclude generic, descriptive, deceptive or functional signs. Use is not a condition for maintaining registration, but a mark becomes vulnerable to cancellation if unused for five consecutive years; cancellation must be requested by a third party with a legitimate interest.

Acquired Distinctiveness and Secondary Meaning

A sign that is not inherently distinctive may still be registered if it has acquired distinctiveness through use. The applicant must demonstrate to the Registry that the sign is recognised by the relevant public as identifying its goods or services, through evidence of long use, sales figures, advertising investment and market surveys.

Famous and Well-Known Marks

Well-known marks are protected even without local registration. A mark qualifies as well known if recognised in any Paris Convention member state by the relevant sector of the public or in international trade. Protection extends across all goods and services where use by a third party would cause confusion, association or unfair advantage.

Registration is not strictly required for some level of protection. Under Article 4 of Law No 7978, a person using a mark in good faith for more than three months has a preferential right to registration over a later applicant. In practice, registration is what gives the full package of enforceable rights and is standard for any serious rights-holder.

Applications are filed before the Industrial Property Registry. Formal examination takes 15 business days; substantive examination follows, checking absolute and relative grounds for refusal under Articles 7 and 8. If objections arise, the applicant has 30 business days to respond. The Registry then orders three publications in the Official Gazette; any party has two months from first publication to oppose. An uncontested application typically takes 9–15 months. Official fees are USD50 per class; total costs including local representation typically run to USD500–USD800 per class.

Costa Rica allows multi-class applications under a single filing. Each class is treated separately for fee purposes.

Term of Protection

Under Article 20, a registered trade mark is protected for ten years, renewable indefinitely for successive ten-year periods. Renewal is filed before the Industrial Property Registry with proof of payment of USD50 per class, within the year before expiry. A six-month grace period applies with a USD25 surcharge; the registration remains in full force during that period. Renewals are not subject to substantive examination or publication.

Under Article 40, genuine use means placing goods or services in commerce in quantities normal for the market. Licensee use counts as owner use. The mark must be used in the registered form, though minor differences that do not alter identity are accepted. Exports and services rendered abroad from Costa Rica qualify.

Under Article 39, cancellation for non-use may be requested by any interested party after five consecutive years of non-use. If use resumes at least three months before the cancellation request, that use blocks cancellation. Non-use affects only the goods or services not used; the result is a partial cancellation. Cancellation will not be ordered if non-use is due to justified reasons beyond the owner’s control, such as import restrictions.

Exclusive Rights

Under Article 25 of Law No 7978, the owner of a registered mark has the exclusive right to prevent third parties from using, without consent, identical or similar signs for identical or similar goods or services where there is a likelihood of confusion. When the sign and the goods or services are identical, confusion is presumed.

The rights cover a broad range of commercial acts, including:

• applying or placing the mark or a similar sign on products, packaging or wrapping;
• removing or altering the mark after it has been applied;
• manufacturing labels, packaging or similar materials that reproduce the mark, or dealing in such materials;
• refilling or reusing commercially any containers bearing the mark;
• using an identical or similar sign in a way that causes confusion or a risk of association with the owner; and
• using an identical or similar sign in a way that causes the owner unfair economic harm, including by diluting the mark’s distinctive character, reducing its commercial value or free-riding on its reputation.

The Law also treats as acts of use the importing, exporting, storing or transporting of goods bearing the sign, and the use of the sign in advertising, commercial documents or communications.

Beyond the standard likelihood of confusion test, owners of well-known marks enjoy broader protection under Articles 44 and 45. A well-known mark can be enforced against uses that would cause confusion, suggest a connection with the owner or take unfair advantage of the mark’s reputation, even across different categories of goods or services – and regardless of whether the mark is registered in Costa Rica.

Limitations and Defences

Article 26 sets out the cases where the owner cannot prevent third-party use. The main ones follow.

• Own-name defence: A person may use their own name or address, or that of their business, even if it coincides with a registered mark, as long as the use is in good faith, does not constitute an act of unfair competition and does not cause confusion about the commercial origin of the goods or services.
• Descriptive use: Third parties may use the mark or similar signs to provide factual information about the characteristics of their own products or services, such as quality, quantity, intended purpose, geographic origin or price, and to indicate compatibility or intended application, such as for spare parts or accessories. Again, good faith and no risk of confusion as to origin are required.
• Exhaustion of rights: Under Article 27, the owner cannot prevent the resale or further commercialisation of products that have been legitimately put into trade, in Costa Rica or abroad, by the owner or with the owner’s consent. This is an international exhaustion regime. The defence does not apply if the products or their immediate packaging have been altered, modified or damaged, or if the further circulation would otherwise cause harm to the owner.
• Unprotected elements in complex marks: Article 28 provides that when a mark consists of a label or a combination of elements, the protection does not extend to elements that are in common use or necessary in trade. These elements remain available to third parties.

Trade Mark Infringement

Infringement under Law No 7978 is any unauthorised commercial use of an identical or similar sign for identical or similar goods or services where there is a likelihood of confusion. When sign and goods are both identical, confusion is presumed. Infringing acts under Article 25 include applying the mark to products or packaging, altering a mark on goods, manufacturing or dealing in labelling bearing the mark, refilling branded containers, using the mark in advertising and importing, exporting, storing or transporting infringing goods.

Dilution

Dilution is addressed through Article 38, which allows the Registry to cancel a registration when the owner has caused or tolerated the mark becoming generic. Two conditions apply: no other adequate name exists for the product, and the mark is in widespread use as the common name. For well-known marks, Articles 44 and 45 provide broader protection against uses that suggest a connection, take unfair advantage of reputation or damage the mark’s value regardless of the goods involved.

Passing Off

There is no standalone passing off cause of action. Protection comes through the unfair competition provisions of Law No 8039 and Law No 7472, which prohibit conduct misleading as to origin or characteristics, and the reproduction of marks to take advantage of another’s reputation. These actions may be brought before the Comisión Nacional del Consumidor or in court.

Courts

Civil intellectual property disputes are heard by the civil courts and processed as abbreviated proceedings under the Civil Procedure Code. Unfair competition cases follow the summary process under Law No 7472. Criminal cases are handled by the criminal courts under the general criminal procedure rules. Administrative decisions of the Industrial Property Registry can be challenged first through a motion for reconsideration before the same Registry, and then on appeal before the Tribunal Registral Administrativo.

Civil Remedies

Under Law No 8039, the civil courts can order the following:

• immediate cessation of the infringing acts;
• seizure of counterfeit or illegal goods;
• suspension of customs clearance of goods;
• damages, calculated preferably by expert opinion and set with reference to the profits the owner would have earned, the profits obtained by the infringer and the royalty that would have been payable for a lawful license – the minimum is the equivalent of one statutory base salary;
• seizure and destruction of counterfeit goods, with destruction only available by final judgment; and
• in appropriate cases, donation of goods to social welfare programmes, provided the infringing elements are first removed, but only with the rights-holder’s consent.

Criminal Remedies

Law No 8039 establishes the following criminal offences, each carrying a prison sentence of one to three years:

• counterfeiting a registered mark (Article 44);
• selling, offering, storing, distributing, importing or exporting products bearing a counterfeit mark (Article 45);
• dealing in designs or specimens of marks identical to a registered mark (Article 46);
• falsely identifying oneself as an authorised distributor of a company with a registered trade name (Article 47); and
• fraudulent use of geographic indications or designations of origin (Article 48).

Criminal proceedings are public but initiated at the instance of the private party. Courts can also order seizure and destruction of infringing goods in criminal proceedings. Article 70 provides that no penalty applies if the acts were committed without profit motive or are of an insignificant nature that causes no real harm to the rights-holder.

Customs and Border Measures

Under Articles 10–17 of Law No 8039, a rights-holder with reasonable grounds to believe counterfeit goods are being imported may apply to the Registry or courts to suspend customs clearance. The applicant must prove ownership, post a bond and describe the goods. Once suspended, the rights-holder has ten business days to file a full legal action; otherwise, the goods are released. Customs may also act on their own initiative and must report to the public prosecutor within 24 hours. Counterfeit goods cannot be re-exported in their original state while proceedings are pending.

Copyright protection is governed by Law No 6683 (as amended by Laws No 8686 and 8834), with enforcement under Law No 8039. Costa Rica is a member of the Berne Convention.

The law protects all original intellectual productions in their expression, not the underlying ideas. Protected works include:

• literary works;
• computer programmes and derivative versions;
• speeches and lectures;
• dramatic, musical and choreographic works;
• paintings, drawings, architecture, sculpture and engravings;
• photographic works;
• applied arts;
• compilations and databases whose selection or arrangement constitutes an intellectual creation; and
• derivative works such as translations and adaptations.

Industrial designs are governed by a separate regime under Law No 6867. However, a design with sufficient artistic character and originality may also qualify for copyright protection as a work of applied art; dual protection is possible though the design registration route is more common for purely functional or commercial designs.

The sole requirement for copyright protection is originality. There is no fixation requirement, though in practice works should be in tangible form to facilitate proof of their existence. Protection is automatic upon creation under Article 101; no registration, notice or deposit is required.

Voluntary registration at the National Copyright Registry has only declaratory effect under Article 102 – it creates a public record of title, date and ownership that shifts the burden of proof to challengers. Registration for commercially significant works is recommended.

Authorship belongs to the natural person or persons who create the work. A collaborative work (obra en colaboración) is produced by two or more authors whose contributions form an indivisible whole; co-authors are co-owners in equal shares and must decide on exploitation jointly. A collective work (obra colectiva), produced by many contributors without individual attribution, belongs to the natural or legal person who took the initiative to produce and publish it.

Under Article 40, commissioned works vest their patrimonial rights in the commissioning party; the author retains moral rights regardless. The same applies to salaried employees – patrimonial rights vest in the employer for works created in the course of employment. For independent contractors not covered by a commission arrangement, patrimonial rights may remain with the contractor absent a written assignment. Clients are advised to include express written assignments of patrimonial rights in all contractor agreements, as moral rights are inalienable and remain with the creator regardless of contract.

Economic rights under Article 16 cover all forms of use, including reproduction, translation, adaptation, public communication, making available on demand, distribution, broadcasting and importation of unauthorised copies. Each use is independent; authorisation for one does not imply authorisation for another.

Authors of original artworks and manuscripts also hold an inalienable resale royalty right (droit de suite) of 5% under Article 151, passing to heirs for 50 years after the author’s death.

Moral rights are personal, inalienable, non-waivable and perpetual under Article 13. They include the right to keep the work unpublished, to claim authorship, to oppose modifications damaging the author’s honour or reputation and to withdraw the work on payment of compensation. The rights to keep a work unpublished and to withdraw it may be contractually limited; the rights to claim authorship and to oppose damaging modifications cannot. Upon the author’s death, moral rights pass to the spouse, then descendants, then ascendants, for the full term of protection; if no heirs exist, the Ministry of Culture takes over their defence.

The general term is the life of the author plus 70 years, calculated from 31 December of the year of death. For collaborative works, the term runs from the death of the last surviving co-author. Collective works and encyclopaedias are protected for 70 years from first publication. Anonymous or pseudonymous works receive 70 years from publication, reverting to the standard rule if the author’s identity becomes known. Government bodies have 25 years from publication; public entities whose core activity is copyright receive 50 years.

Neighbouring rights for performers and phonogram producers run for 70 years from first authorised publication. If an author dies with no heirs, the rights pass immediately to the public domain under Article 66 – not to the state.

There is no US-style statutory termination right. The main statutory mechanisms are:

• publishing contracts limited to five years under Article 93 (terminating automatically);
• rescission of a publishing contract if the publisher does not produce a new edition within 18 months of exhausting the previous one (Article 22); and
• the moral right to withdraw a work under Article 14(d), requiring prior compensation to affected parties and subject to contractual limitation.

Outside these, reversion depends on what the contract says.

Costa Rica has no general fair use or fair dealing provision. The law provides a specific, closed list of exceptions; any use outside them requires authorisation.

The main exceptions are:

• quotation (Article 70) – passages must not amount to a substantial reproduction harming the author, must not exceed what the purpose justifies and must credit the source;
• private use (Article 74) – a single handwritten or typed copy of a didactic or scientific work for personal use without profit motive, not applying to computer programmes;
• family circle performance (Article 73) – free performance of theatrical or musical works within the home; and
• educational use (Article 73) – use as illustration in educational activities to the extent justified, without harming normal exploitation, with proper attribution.

Additional exceptions include:

• news reporting (Article 76) to the extent justified by informational purpose;
• press reproduction of current affairs articles unless reserved (Article 68);
• government texts freely reproducible if the official version is followed (Article 75);
• non-commercial reproduction of publicly displayed government artworks (Article 71); and
• accessible format reproduction for persons with print disabilities under Article 76 bis (Marrakesh Treaty, 2020).

Published case law on exceptions is limited. All exceptions are subject to the implicit Berne three-step test: they must apply only in special cases, must not conflict with normal exploitation and must not cause unjustified harm to the rights-holder. Courts apply exceptions narrowly, consistent with civil law tradition.

Infringement is any unauthorised use of a protected work where no exception applies, covering all exclusive rights under Article 16 of Law No 6683: reproduction, public communication, distribution, translation, adaptation, broadcasting, importation of unauthorised copies and making available on demand.

Law No 8039 extends liability to circumvention of technological protection measures, alteration of rights management information and sale of infringing copies. A de minimis carve-out under Article 70 of Law No 8039 excludes criminal sanction where acts were non-commercial and caused no actual harm to the rights-holder.

Civil remedies include injunctions, seizure of infringing goods and damages (calculated as lost profits, infringer's profits or a reasonable royalty). Criminal penalties for commercial-scale infringement can reach imprisonment and fines. Precautionary measures – including ex parte cease orders and customs suspension – are available at any stage; the applicant must post a guarantee against potential damages.

Costa Rican copyright law contains no explicit “substantial part” test. The quotation exception (Article 70 of Law No 6683) indirectly reflects the concept by requiring that copied passages not be “so numerous and continuous” as to constitute a disguised substantial reproduction, but no general statutory threshold exists.

Courts have not developed case law on non-literal copying. Structurally similar software copying is theoretically actionable under Article 16’s requirement of authorisation for derivative works and adaptations, and protection covers a programme’s expression regardless of form. In practice, such claims would rely on expert evidence and analogy to general copyright principles – the outcome is untested and uncertain.

The Association of Composers and Musical Authors of Costa Rica (Asociación de Compositores y Autores Musicales de Costa Rica – ACAM), affiliated with the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (Confédération Internationale des Sociétés d'Auteurs et Compositeurs – CISAC), handles public performance and broadcasting rights for musical works. FONÓTICA (Asociación de Productores de Fonogramas de Costa Rica) collects neighbouring rights royalties for phonogram producers. Both societies set and enforce tariffs; disputes over royalties are subject to general civil proceedings. Costa Rica has no developed compulsory licensing framework for copyright.

Industrial designs are governed by the Law on Patents, Utility Models and Industrial Designs (Law No 6867). Two categories are protected: industrial drawings (combinations of lines or colours) and industrial models (three-dimensional forms giving a product a special appearance). Purely functional features are excluded. There is no separate trade dress statute; product get-up and packaging are protected as three-dimensional marks under the Trademarks Law (Law No 7978). The two regimes may overlap, and design protection does not exclude rights under other laws, including copyright.

For industrial designs, the Patents Law requires novelty (no prior disclosure worldwide before the filing date), originality (appearance resulting from the creator’s own effort, not a mere colour change or trivial variation) and independent creation. Purely functional features are excluded. For three-dimensional marks, the Trademarks Law requires distinctiveness sufficient to identify commercial origin.

Costa Rica is registration-based: unregistered industrial designs receive no protection under the Patents Law. Limited alternatives exist – an unregistered design may qualify for copyright protection if it meets the originality threshold for artistic works, and the Trademarks Law protects well-known marks whether registered or not. Formal registration remains the most reliable route.

Applications are filed before the Industrial Property Registry. Required documents include applicant details, the creator’s name, five graphic or photographic representations (maximum 15 × 15 cm), a description of up to 100 words and proof of fee payment. The Registry conducts formal examination only – there is no substantive novelty examination. Once requirements are met, a notice is published in the Official Gazette; trade mark opposition rules apply by reference. Registration takes approximately 6–12 months absent complications.

Official fees are USD75 per class at filing and USD30 for an opposition; no annual maintenance fees apply. Protection lasts ten years from the date of registration with no renewal – owners seeking longer protection must rely on trade mark or copyright.

Infringement under the Patents Law occurs when a third party, without consent and for commercial purposes, manufactures, sells or imports articles incorporating a copy or substantially similar copy of the protected design. For trade dress protected as a trade mark, infringement follows the Trademarks Law’s likelihood-of-confusion standard.

Civil remedies include cessation orders, seizure and destruction of infringing goods, and damages (calculated as lost profits, infringer’s profits or a reasonable royalty). Precautionary measures – cease orders and seizure – are available on application with a bond; if obtained before suit, the lawsuit must be filed within one month. Border measures under Law 8039 allow courts to order customs suspension of infringing imports; customs may also act on their own initiative.

The Patents Law states plainly that protection does not cover elements or characteristics of an industrial design that serve solely to achieve a technical or functional effect. The word “solely” is the key: if a feature has no purpose other than a functional one, it falls outside the scope of design protection. If a feature achieves both a functional purpose and gives the product a distinctive appearance, it is not automatically excluded. That said, Costa Rica does not have a developed body of court decisions spelling out how this test is applied in practice.

Trade secrets in Costa Rica are governed by the Law on Undisclosed Information (Ley de Información No Divulgada; Law No 7975, 2000), with enforcement procedures in Law No 8039 and unfair competition coverage under the Competition Law (Law No 7472, 1994). Executive Decree No 34927 provides implementing regulations.

Qualifying information includes production methods and formulas, business know-how, test data for pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals, financial and pricing information, customer lists and technical specifications. No patentability or registration is required; the information may be stored in any tangible form

Three cumulative conditions must be met:

• secrecy – the information must not be generally known or easily accessible to persons in the relevant field;
• reasonable measures – the owner must have taken proportional steps to maintain confidentiality (access restrictions, confidentiality agreements, secure storage); and
• commercial value derived from its secret character.

Protection ends if any of these conditions ceases to be met.

Article 2 of Law No 7975 requires “reasonable and proportional measures” to maintain secrecy; the law does not prescribe a specific list, but the measures must be ongoing. In practice, confidentiality markings on documents, written confidentiality agreements with employees and partners, and access restrictions are the primary indicators courts examine.

Any person who accesses undisclosed information through employment, a contractual relationship or a profession, and has been warned of its confidential nature, must refrain from using or disclosing it – this duty survives the end of the relationship (Article 7, Regulation Article 10). Authorised users and licensees are similarly bound; upon license termination, the former licensee must cease use and return all materials containing the secret.

Misappropriation under Article 2 of Law No 7975 covers conduct contrary to honest commercial practices: breach of contract, abuse of confidence, inducement to infringe and acquisition by third parties who knew or should have known the information was obtained through such conduct. Article 6 imposes liability on anyone who uses, acquires or discloses confidential information without authorisation – including those who merely benefit economically from such acts.

Employee disclosure of trade secrets known through employment that may cause harm to the owner carries one to three years’ imprisonment (Article 49, Law No 8039). Competitor acquisition, disclosure or exploitation of trade secrets through industrial espionage or inducement to breach contractual duties constitutes unfair competition under Article 17 of Law No 7472. Civil unfair competition claims proceed by summary proceeding (proceso sumario).

There is no fixed term. Protection continues only while the three qualifying conditions – secrecy, reasonable measures and commercial value – remain in force (Article 10, Law No 7975; Decree No 34927). Protection ends automatically when information becomes public knowledge, loses commercial value or the owner stops maintaining confidentiality.

Information disclosed to a government authority to obtain a permit or registration does not enter the public domain, and the authority must maintain confidentiality (Article 4, Law No 7975). Unauthorised disclosure that causes the secret to become public terminates protection; however, the owner may still benefit from the patent law grace period (Article 2.3, Law No 6867) to file a patent application within the applicable window.

Civil remedies under Law No 8039 include immediate cessation orders, seizure and destruction of infringing goods (destruction only on final judgment) and customs suspension. Damages are available, as are precautionary measures at any stage on application with a bond.

Criminal sanctions of one to three years’ imprisonment apply to:

• unauthorised disclosure of trade secrets known through employment (Article 49 – with additional disqualification for public officials); and
• acquisition of undisclosed information by illicit or disloyal means (Article 50).

Criminal proceedings are public actions initiated by private complaint.

In any administrative or judicial proceeding requiring disclosure of trade secret information, the presiding authority must adopt all measures necessary to prevent third-party disclosure; no party to the proceeding may use or reveal the information (Article 9, Law No 7975).

Article 7.2 of the Regulation adds that the court may authorise a party not to reveal trade secrets when, in the court’s view, such disclosure is irrelevant to resolving the matter at hand.

Article 39 of Law No 8039 provides that when evidence relevant to a party’s case is under the control of the other party, the judge may order that party to produce it, but only on the condition that the confidentiality of undisclosed information is guaranteed.

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Sui Generis Database Right

Costa Rica has no sui generis database right. There is nothing equivalent to the EU Database Directive. The concept does not exist in Costa Rican IP law.

Copyright Protection of Databases

Databases and compilations can receive copyright protection under the Copyright Law (Law No. 6683).

Trade Secret Protection

A database can be protected as a trade secret under Law No 7975 if it meets three conditions:

• it is not generally known or easily accessible;
• the owner has taken reasonable measures to keep it confidential; and
• it has commercial value because of its secrecy.

Contract Protection

Contract is the most reliable tool for controlling database use in Costa Rica.

Scraping and Data Extraction

Costa Rica has no specific law addressing web scraping or automated data extraction.

AI-Generated Outputs and Copyright

Costa Rica has no legislation addressing AI-generated works.

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Copyright arises automatically and is the default for original creative output. Trade marks protect signs identifying commercial origin with indefinite renewable protection. Industrial designs protect aesthetic product appearance for ten years. Patents protect functional inventions with 20 years’ exclusivity. Trade secrets protect valuable confidential technical or commercial information with no fixed term.

The key factors in choosing between patent and trade secret are:

• reverse-engineering risk – if competitors can discover the method by examining the product, a patent is more reliable;
• patentability – if the invention lacks novelty or inventive step, trade secret is the only option;
• duration – trade secrets can last indefinitely, whereas patents expire after 20 years and place the invention in the public domain;
• prosecution burden – trade secrets require no registration, fees or prosecution delay; and
• mandatory exploitation – patents require working the invention within three or four years of grant/filing or face compulsory licensing, whereas trade secrets impose no such obligation.

In practice, manufacturing processes and formulations in Costa Rica are more commonly protected as trade secrets, while patents are preferred where the product itself reveals the invention.

Cumulative protection is generally permitted. The Patents Law expressly states that industrial design protection does not exclude copyright or other legal rights; the Trademark Law and copyright law operate independently.

Narrow statutory limits prevent using registration to crowd out legitimate rights: a trade mark cannot be registered if it would infringe a third party’s copyright (Trademark Law, Article 8(j)), and purely functional features are excluded from both industrial design and trade mark registration. No statutory rule governs how courts resolve conflicts when multiple IP rights are asserted over the same feature – that remains a practical gap in the local framework.

Know-how and technical information can be protected as a trade secret under Law No 7975 independently and concurrently with any stage of a patent process. Once a patent is published, the disclosed information enters the public domain and loses trade secret protection. Trade secret protection cannot survive patent expiry or invalidation for any information disclosed in the patent.

One narrow exception applies: if confidential information was disclosed without authorisation (by an employee, licensee or breach of contract), the legitimate owner may use the patent grace period (Article 2.3, Law No 6867) to file a patent application within the applicable window without loss of novelty. The grace period preserves the patent filing right; it does not revive trade secret protection in the disclosed information.

Costa Rica does not use the term “trade dress” but protects the concept through three-dimensional trade mark registration. Trade marks protect distinctive signs identifying commercial origin (with indefinite renewable term); industrial designs protect the ornamental appearance of a product (ten years, non-renewable); trade dress elements such as packaging and product shapes are protectable as three-dimensional marks under the Trademark Law.

A product shape or packaging can be simultaneously protected as an industrial design and as a three-dimensional trade mark provided the requirements (novelty/originality for designs, distinctiveness for marks) are independently met.

An original logo or artistic branding element receives automatic copyright protection under Law No 6683 as an applied artistic work, covering all unauthorised reproduction regardless of the commercial context. The same logo may also be registered as a figurative or mixed trade mark under Law No 7978, providing protection against confusing uses in commerce within the registered classes, with an indefinitely renewable ten-year term. Both protections coexist on the same element; copyright is broader in scope, whereas trade mark enforcement is stronger in the commercial channel.

The only limitation operates at the trade mark registration stage: Article 8(j) of the Trademark Law prevents registration of a sign that would infringe a third party’s copyright. The two regimes are otherwise independent – neither limits enforcement of the other once both rights are held by the same owner.

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No response has been provided in this jurisdiction.