Limited online access to trademark database allowed

In order to comply with the numerous obligations imposed by the ratification of the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement with the United States (DR-CAFTA), El Salvador has granted limited access to the IP Registry database.

DR-CAFTA provides that all signatory countries (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and the United States) shall:

• implement a system for the electronic filing, processing, registration and maintenance of trademarks; and
  
  
• attempt, to the maximum degree practical, to create a publicly available electronic database (including an online database) of pending and registered trademarks.

Therefore, the National Bureau of Registries, which supervises the IP Registry, recently launched the Centro Nacional de Registros, an online database (in Spanish) which allows the public to determine the status of the trademarks, patents and copyrights processed in El Salvador.

However, applicants must possess the serial number of the relevant case in order to access certain limited information, including the status of the proceedings. It is still not possible to conduct online searches, but this development represents a positive first step in the right direction.

Jose Roberto Romero, Romero Pineda & Asociados, San Salvador