Disclaimer: this information is currently being revised as there have been substantial amendments to the Law. INDUSTRIAL MODELS AND DESIGNS LAW (STATUTORY DECREE No. 6673 August 9, 1963) SECTION 1 The authors of an industrial model or design and their legitimate successors have a right of ownership on such designs or models as well as the right to use, transfer and register them, in the terms and conditions established by this decree. Industrial models and designs created by employees belong to their authors and as such they are entitled to an exclusive right to use their work, except when they have been specifically hired to create the model or design or when the author is a mere executor of the directions set forth by his/her employers. Should the model or design be the joint work of the employer and the employee, the model or design shall belong to both, except as otherwise established. When two or more persons have jointly created an industrial model or design, they are all entitled to an exclusive right to use and to register such model or design in the name of all its authors. In such cases, relations between co-authors are considered to be those of a joint ownership. The authors of an industrial model or design, as well as their legitimate successors, have a right to assert claims to recover the ownership of a registration fraudulently filed by anyone other than the author. SECTION 2 The right recognized in the preceding section applies to the authors of industrial models or designs created abroad and their legitimate successors as long as their respective countries of origin grant reciprocity for the rights of Argentine authors or for authors residing in Argentina. SECTION 3 The forms or the aspect incorporated into, or applied to, an industrial product for ornamental purposes are considered to be an industrial model or design. SECTION 4 In order to exercise the rights recognized by this decree, authors must register their models or designs with the Register of Industrial Models and Designs kept for that purpose by the Department of Industry and Mining (National Board of Industrial Property). SECTION 5 There is a rebuttable presumption that the party that has registered an industrial model or design for the first time is its author. SECTION 6 The models and/or designs listed below are not entitled to the benefits recognized pursuant to this decree: a) The industrial models or designs that have been publicly published or used, in Argentina or abroad, prior to the date of the deposit, except in the cases contemplated in Section 14 of this decree. However, authors may not be prevented from enjoying such benefits by the fact that they have shown, either by themselves or through an authorized third party, the model or design they have created, in shows or fairs held in Argentina or abroad, on condition that the respective deposit should take place within a six-month period starting from the date of opening of the show or fair; b) The industrial models or designs that do not have a configuration different from the preceding industrial models or designs, or those that do not have their own and novel appearance;
c) The industrial models or designs whose elements are required by the functions of the product; d) When there is a simple change in the color of the models or designs already known; e) When the industrial models or designs are contrary to good customs. SECTION 7 The protection conferred by this decree shall be in force for five years starting from the date of the deposit and it may be extended for two consecutive five-year periods at the request of the proprietor. SECTION 8 In order to register an industrial model or design and/or applying for the extensions mentioned in the preceding section, as well as for issuing new certified copies, applicants must pay the rates and fees determined in the regulation of this decree. These rates shall be established by the Department of Industry and Mining and shall be paid into the Special Account "Dirección Nacional de la Propiedad Industrial - Servicios Requeridos" (National Board of Industrial Property Required Services). SECTION 9 A single record may include up to fifty copies of one model or design, as long as there is homogeneity among them all. SECTION 10 Applications for registration shall be filed with the National Board of Industrial Property, in accordance with the respective rules and regulations and it shall contain: 1. An application, accompanied by evidence of payment of the rate established in Section 8; 2. Drawings of the model or design; 3. A description of the model or design; 4. A special authorization with the signature of the applicant, not legalized, empowering a third party to carry out the filing proceedings if not personally carried out by the author. SECTION 11 The application for renewal established in Section 7 shall be submitted within a six-month period prior to the expiration of the protection term. This application shall be accompanied by the same elements required for the first deposit. SECTION 12 The application for deposit may not be rejected, except for non-compliance with the formal requirements established in Section 10 and concurrent sections in this decree and in the regulation. The resolution entered by the Register with respect to an application for deposit shall be appealed to the National Board of Industrial Property or to the Federal Courts. The choice of one shall exclude the possibility of resorting to the other. SECTION 13 The register shall be the responsibility of the National Board of Industrial Property within the Department of Industry and Mining and the issuance of documents that certify the date of the deposit, the name of the proprietor and that contain copies of the drawing and descriptions deposited shall be carried out by the officer(s) as set forth in the applicable rules and regulations. The remaining formalities related to the certificate and register-related proceedings shall also be established in the applicable regulations. SECTION 14 The industrial models and designs deposited or patented abroad may be deposited in the Register with the same benefits granted pursuant to this decree to those recorded in Argentina, as long as the deposit is carried out in a term not higher than six months since the filing has taken place in the country of origin. In these cases, the duration of the exclusivity right may not exceed the validity of the patent or original deposit. No exclusivity rights may be claimed over foreign models or designs that have been used for
industrial purposes in the Argentine Republic by a third party prior to the application for registration in the country of origin. SECTION 15 The proprietor of a record for a model or design may assign it in whole or in part under whatever conditions the holder considers beneficial. The successor or assign may not invoke the rights arising from the record as long as the transfer has not been filed with the National Board of Industrial Property. Should the assignee fail to notify the assignor that a record has been challenged before the courts, thereby allowing the assignor to take part in the proceedings as a co-claimant, the assignor shall not be under the obligation to reimburse the price of the assignment. SECTION 16 Registration of models or designs shall be publicly shown in the time and manner established in the applicable regulations. The same applies to renewals, transfers and terminations. SECTION 17 Registration of models or designs shall be terminated when they have been carried out by anyone other than the author or in breach of the provisions of this decree. Notwithstanding this provision, this termination may only be decided by a final judgment of the Federal Courts, at the request of any interested parties who may, or not, have registered models or designs before. SECTION 18 The right to file an action to request the termination of a registration established in Section 17 and the action to claim recovery of a registration indicated in the last paragraph of Section 1, shall expire five (5) years subsequent to the date of the deposit in the Register of Industrial Models and Designs. SECTION 19 The proprietor of a registration of an industrial model or design has the right to file an action against all those parties who, without due authorization, use for industrial or business purposes, with respect to the same or different products, a deposited design or an imitation of such design. The action may be filed with the Federal Courts, as a civil action to obtain compensation for damages and cessation of use, or as a criminal action for the enforcement of the penalties established in this law. SECTION 20 All those parties who, either in good or bad faith, infringe the rights recognized in favor of a deposited model or design, shall be under the obligation to compensate for the damages caused to the proprietor of the registration. In the case of bad faith there shall be an additional obligation to reimburse all proceeds obtained. SECTION 21 Fines ranging from Pesos three thousand to one hundred thousand shall be imposed on: 1. Those who manufacture industrial products with the characteristics protected by the registration of a model or design or its copies or who have them manufactured. 2. Those who, knowing that it is illegal, sell, market, show, import, export or otherwise trade with the products referred to in the preceding paragraph. 3. Those who maliciously are in possession of those products or provide a cover-up for their manufacturers. 4. Those who maliciously invoke a model or design without having it registered. 5. Those who sell blueprints of designs protected by another party s registration as if they were their own. Should there be relapses, the penalties imposed pursuant to this section shall be doubled. SECTION 22 The items or parts of items that imply industrial models or designs declared to have been infringed, shall be destroyed although the destruction of the model or design implies the destruction of the
products, unless the proprietor of the model or design accepts to receive them, at cost, as a prepayment of the compensation and restitution of proceeds owed. The merchandise already delivered by the party in infringement to good faith buyers shall not be subject to destruction and forfeiture. SECTION 23 The actions for the application of the penalties imposed by this decree may only be commenced at the initiative of the parties. Civil or criminal complaints shall not proceed unless accompanied by the certificate evidencing the registration invoked. SECTION 24 As an only measure prior to the commencement of civil or criminal actions authorized by this decree and to prove that an illegal act has been committed, the proprietor of the registration of a model or design who becomes aware that a business, factory or any other site is using for industrial or business purposes designs in breach of the register, may request the judge, supplying sufficient surety and submitting the certificate of registration, to designate a court official to visit the facilities and have an item of the products in breach of the registration seized, taking a detailed physical count of existing items. The judicial order shall be issued within 24 hours of filing the request. In those cases in which the party in possession of the merchandise is not the manufacturer thereof, it shall supply the proprietor of the model or design with an explanation about their origin, for the proprietor to be able to commence an action against the manufacturer. Should such explanation be denied or false and inaccurate, the party in possession shall be unable to allege good faith. SECTION 25 In civil actions commenced for the cessation of use as well as in criminal actions, the plaintiff may, through separate proceedings, request the defendant to supply surety so that the defendant is not interrupted in the use of the model or design challenged, and, if a surety were not provided, a request may be made for the suspension of the use and the attachment of all the objects challenged in the possession of the defendant, supplying, if so requested, sufficient surety. Sureties shall be actual and established by the judge taking into account the interests involved. SECTION 26 The amounts corresponding to the fines imposed pursuant to this law shall be paid into the Special Account "Dirección Nacional de la Propiedad Industrial - Servicios Requeridos" (National Board of Industrial Property Required Services) to fund the operations of the board. SECTION 27 Actions for the application of the fines established in Sections 21 and 22 shall expire after two years from the time in which the crime was no longer committed. SECTION 28 When an industrial model or design registered in accordance with this decree has also applied for deposit as established in Law 11.723, the author may not apply for both regimes of protection at the same time. When a patent has been erroneously applied for in order to protect an industrial model or design and the National Board of Intellectual Property has challenged the application for any reason, the interested party may turn such application into an application for the registration of a model or design. SECTION 29 This decree shall come into force thirty days after its regulation has been issued, but not less than six months prior to its issuance. SECTION 30 This decree shall be confirmed by the Ministers Secretaries in the Departments of Economy, Education and Justice, National Defense and the Interior and shall be signed by the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Industry and Mining.
SECTION 31 Let this decree be communicated, published and delivered to the General Directorate of the Official Gazette and Printing Office and filed. SET OF RULES APPLIED TO THE LAW OF INDUSTRIAL MODELS AND DESIGNS (DECREE 5682/65 JULY 20, 1965) SECTION 1 Applications for the registration of industrial models and designs shall be filed with the National Board of Industrial Property. The National Board of Industrial Property shall organize the Register of Industrial Models and Designs. SECTION 2 The application must be filed in Spanish and in compliance with all the formalities imposed on public documents. It shall contain: a) Name, surname and ID of the applicant, if an individual and corporate name and data evidencing its legal existence if a legal entity; b) Domicile by choice and for legal purposes; c) A declaration under oath of the applicant about its character as author, assign or successor of the author of the model or design; d) Nature of the product to which the model or design is being applied; e) When the application is filed under the powers granted in a power of attorney, the requirements set forth in Rule No 4/56 of the National Board of Industrial Property must be complied with, except in the case of its paragraph 6 in which a copy of the whole deed in compliance with all formalities or a summary of relevant parts that evidence legal existence must be supplied and its accuracy must be certified before a Notary Public. Additionally, the agent shall declare in an affidavit that it is currently valid. SECTION 3 The application must also be accompanied by: a) Evidence that all the amounts set forth in Sub-sections a) and g) of Section 23 of this decree have been paid; b) In the case of a model or design deposited or registered abroad, a deed or certificate issued in the country of origin must be produced, which shall indicate the date and number of deposit or registration and the term of validity. Such documentation shall be translated into Spanish by a Sworn Translator registered with the National Board of Industrial Property. No legalization of these documents shall be required for the purposes of registration as long as the original certificates produced abroad have been supplied; c) A set of drawings, with the original in smooth cardboard, a copy in tracing cloth and two fixed copies in photo-sensitive paper on a white background; d) A summary description of the components of the model or design for the purpose of completing the illustration of the drawings in original and three copies; e) An electrotype reproducing each illustration of the drawings filed and ten copies of their facsimile;
f) The document evidencing the existence of a power of attorney, in the case of a special power of attorney or when the agency is not covered by any of the assumptions established in Sub-section e) of the preceding section. SECTION 4 The application, drawings and electrotype referred to in the two preceding sections must comply with the characteristics and formal requirements established for this purpose by the National Board of Industrial Property. SECTION 5 Applications not accompanied by the drawing of the model or design, electrotype and respective description shall not be received. SECTION 6 The applications for registration of Industrial Models and Designs shall follow the procedure established in Sections 7, 8 and 9 of this decree, within the priority system of the deposit determined by Section 5 of the Law being regulated. Once the procedure has been completed, the application shall be registered in the books kept for such purposes with the signature of the Head of the Register of Industrial Models and Designs, the certificate shall be issued pursuant to Section 10 and the publication shall be made pursuant to Sections 11 and 12. SECTION 7 With the application having been submitted, a file shall be opened. On the title page, evidence shall be left of the day and the time it was received and a copy thereof shall be supplied to the applicant. Applications shall be recorded in the order in which they have been filed and they shall follow a strict numerical order, in a registry that shall contain the same data indicated above. SECTION 8 The register of industrial models and designs shall be kept on a double-entry basis: with a numerical sequence keeping the number of deposit of the application and according to the object. For the purpose of keeping the register based on the object, deposits shall be kept in accordance with the nomenclature established by the National Board of Industrial Property. The register within each class shall be kept on the basis of the number of the register. The register shall be kept in two copies, one of which shall be available to the public. SECTION 9 With the registration having taken place, one of the fixed copies in photosensitive paper as well as one of the descriptions referred to in Section 3, shall be filed in a binder. On the cover of the binder an indication shall be supplied of the registration and the date, duration, number and class of the register, for it to be consulted by the public. SECTION 10 The registration shall be evidenced with a certificate that shall supply the number of registration, the date and time of the deposit, the duration of its validity and the name and domicile of the proprietor, signed by the Head of the Register of Industrial Models and Designs or the person duly appointed to replace him/her. In the absence or temporary impossibility of either to exercise their functions, the registration shall be signed by the officials designated by the National Director of Industrial Property. The certificate shall be accompanied by the drawing in tracing cloth and one of the descriptions of the model or design. SECTION 11 When an industrial model or design has been registered, a reproduction of the illustrations of the model or design, the name of the proprietor, the number and date of registration and the date of expiration of validity shall be published at the cost of the applicant as established in Section 3, Sub-section a). Waivers of registrations and terminations imposed by a court order shall be published free of charge.
SECTION 12 Publications shall take place for a day in a section authorized for such purposes in the bulletin published by the National Board of Industrial Property, in conformity with the terms of Decree No. 10.261/61. SECTION 13 At the request of any interested party, either a photostatic or authenticated copy of the documentation contained in the binder referred to in Section 9 may be issued, after payment of the service established by the Secretary of Industry and Mining at the proposal of the National Board of Industrial Property. SECTION 14 The application for renewal of a registration must comply with the same formalities indicated in Section 2, except in the case of Sub-section c). SECTION 15 The application for renewal must be accompanied by: a) Evidence that the amounts established in Sub-sections b) or c) and h) of Section 23 have been paid; b) The document established in Sub-section f) of Section 3; c) A certificate of the registration to be renewed for the renewal to be recorded. SECTION 16 Evidence of renewal shall be recorded in the respective registration and in the certificate accompanied by the interested party, with reference to the degree of renewal. SECTION 17 When an industrial model or design has been renewed, such circumstance shall be published by the interested party, with an indication of the date on which the original record was published. SECTION 18 Applications for renewal submitted more than 9 months prior to the date of expiration of the registration to be renewed shall not be renewed. SECTION 19 The transfer application must be accompanied by: a) A document evidencing the transfer if it is not formalized in the same application; b) Evidence of payment of the amount established in Sub-sections d) or e) and h) of Section 23; c) Certificate of registration; d) Power of attorney when acting on behalf of a third party, except in the case established in Sub-section e) of Section 2. SECTION 20 Evidence of the transfer shall be published at the cost of the interested party and shall be recorded in the respective registration and in the certificate accompanied by the interested party. SECTION 21 The appeal referred to in Section 12 of the Decree-Law being regulated must be filed within the terms established in Law No. 50, and all proceedings related to the appeal shall also be governed by Law No. 50. SECTION 22 The right to request the conversion referred to in Section 28 of the Law being regulated must be exercised within the a thirty-day period following the notification of the challenge made to the application for a patent in order not to lose the priority right arising from the date of filing of the application for a patent.
The application for conversion must meet all the requirements established for the applications for new records and this application shall be recorded following the numerical sequence established in Section 7. The right to request the conversion may only be exercised with respect to the applications for letters patent filed after this decree has lost validity. SECTION 23 In order to proceed with the applications related to this decree, the following amounts shall be charged: a) Ordinary registration...$ 500.00 b) First renewal...$ 1,000.00 c) Second renewal......$ 1,500.00 d) Inter vivos transfers not derived from a going-concern transfer, corporate transformation or transfer of the assignor s business assets and liabilities...$ 1,000.00 e) Transfer derived from acts covered by the exceptions of the prior Sub-section or a last will and testament: as well as from the registration of a change in the line of business or a change in the corporate name of the proprietor of the registration...$ 300.00 f) Issuance of a certificate of proceedings or a certificate other than the original...$ 250.00 and 50.00 for each additional sheet g) Publication of ordinary registration...$ 100.00 per cm of column 300.00 minimum. SECTION 24 The Secretary of Industry and Mining shall be authorized to modify such amounts on an annual basis, after this decree has been in force for a year. SECTION 25 The funds collected and the expenses incurred as a result of the enforcement of the law being regulated shall be respectively credited and debited from the Special Account "Dirección Nacional de la
Propiedad Industrial - Servicios Requeridos" (National Board of Industrial Property Required Services) opened in the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Industry and Mining, which shall be adapted for such purpose. SECTION 26 The National Board of Industrial Property, having been proposed by the Secretary of Industry and Mining, is hereby empowered to establish merely procedural rules in relation to the applications filed in accordance with the law being regulated. SECTION 27 This decree shall be authorized by the signature of the Minister Secretary in the Department of Economy and signed by the Secretaries of Industry and Mining and by the Secretary of the Treasury. SECTION 28 - Let this decree be communicated, published and delivered to the General Directorate of the Official Gazette and Printing Office and filed.