WIPO-administered Treaties: 

Contracting Party of the Paris Convention: YES

Contracting Party of the Patent Cooperation

Treaty (PCT): YES. Due term for entry into national phase: 30 months. 

Patent Law in force: 

Patent Law 19.039/1991 (modified by Law No. 19.996 on November 2005, Law No. 20.160 on 2007 and finally, by Law 20.569 on 2012) 

On January 2022 Law No. 21.355 comes into force, amending the Industrial Property Law and Law No. 20.254.

Formal filing requirements: 

  • Power of Attorney: Merely signed (no legalization required) within 60 working days from office action. Scanned copy will suffice. • Assignment document from the inventors: merely signed (no legalization required) within 60 working days from office action. Not required if assignment is registered in WIPO. Examiners may require assignment during examination procedure. • Certified copy of priority application: within 90 working-days from filing (not required for entry into national phase of PCT applications provided that PCT/IB304 form is available). 
  • Sequence listings must be filed in WIPO Standard ST.26 format.
  • Possibility of filing a provisional patent application.

Filing of the patent application in a foreign language: 

Accepted. Late submission of the Spanish translation is possible within 60 days from notification from Office.  

Substantive examination must be requested by the applicant: 

YES, within 60-working days as from the end of the opposition term. 

Observations by third parties: 

YES, within 45-working days from publication. 

Opposition: 

YES, within 45-working days from publication. 

Average time from filing to grant: 

2.5 to 5 years 

Term of protection for patents: 

20 years from filing date. 

Reducing timeline for requesting supplementary protection (from 6 months to 60 days from grant)

Term of protection for utility models: 

10 years from filing date. 

Maintenance: 

Payment in decades after grant. 

Marking of the product with the application/ patent number: 

Optional. Failure to comply with this requirement will not affect the validity of the patent, civil proceedings would apply.  

Compulsory licensing: 

YES 

Link to Patent Office: 

http://www.inapi.cl/ 

Chile