Introduction to Intellectual Property Laws in Costa Rica

By the beginning of the 20th century, Costa Rica had a trademark office and the country was already starting to protect intellectual property. Much has changed in more than a century — however, as happened in many Western countries, it goes without saying that Costa Rica has a long history with intellectual property.

After reforming laws as the first half of the 21st century progressed, the Costa Rican Constitution of 1949 —still in force— raised the protection of intellectual property to constitutional status. This is the supreme law that also abolished the Costa Rican military and, in general, updated the individual and social rights of the country.

Article 47 of the Constitution states the following:

“Every author, inventor, producer or merchant shall temporarily enjoy exclusive ownership of his work, invention, trademark or trade name, according to the law.”

Further, article 121 in its paragraph 18 attributes to the Legislative Assembly the function of:

“[Promoting] the progress of science and the arts and guarantee authors and inventors ownership of their respective works or inventions for a limited time.;

Public entities such as the Industrial Property Registry or the National Registry of Copyright and Related Rights emanate from these constitutional obligations regarding the protection of intellectual property, an area in which Costa Rica in legal terms is aligned with international standards.

CAFTA and international treaties

The intangible nature of intellectual property means that its legal backing is constantly evolving, specifically in an age of such innovation as the one that has prevailed since the Constitution of 1949. That’s why during the past couple of decades Costa Rican legislation has been updated in this matter.

For example, the Law of Trademarks and Other Distinctive Signs was approved in 2000 with the purpose of protecting “the rights and legitimate interests of the owners of trademarks and other distinctive signs, as well as the reflex effects of acts of unfair competition that may be caused to the rights and legitimate interests of consumers.”

Also, in 1995, the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property was ratified in the country. Most advances regarding intellectual property have to do with the internationalization of intellectual property rights, according to an investigation from students of the University of Costa Rica (UCR).

Most notably, in 2008 the Legislative Assembly approved a rule for the reform, addition, and repeal of several rules that regulate matters related to intellectual property. This happened in the context of the ratification of the Dominican Republic–Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) with the United States, and laws related to intellectual property caused controversy in the public.

This norm reformed laws on copyright and related rights, patents for inventions, industrial drawings, and distinctive signs, among others. This was needed before CAFTA came into force, which forced an update to the Costa Rican regulatory framework to be more in line with international trends.

Further, in 2020, the country passed its first National Strategy for Intellectual Property, and in 2015 it also launched a National Plan for Science, Technology and Education, both significant to the subject that concerns us in this article. Nevertheless, compliance monitoring remains a weakness for the country.

In 2017, ten years after the ratification of CAFTA, an intellectual property professor wrote in La Nación newspaper that Costa Rica “has legislation harmonized “with high international standards” in relation to intellectual property, but criticized that “enforcement remains a week point” and that the judicial system has been slow to adapt.

Two main types of intellectual property

As happens in most of the world, intellectual property in Costa Rica is divided into two subcategories, even though the legislation around this subject has a much broader scope. These subcategories are copyright and industrial property. We review both below:

• Copyright: These rights cover literary and artistic works including music, plays, books, films, art pieces, novels, paintings, photographs and even architectural designs. Performers and creators of these inventions hold the copyright of their creations, as well as producers of recorded music or broadcasting programmes, for example.

• Industrial property: These rights have to do with things such as patents, inventions, trademarks, industrial designs, and geographical indication (for example, if a certain food can only be produced in a certain part of the world, as happens with many European products).

Importance of intellectual property in Costa Rica

Costa Rica has continued to renew its commitments to the protection of intellectual property over the years. More recently, the government of former President Carlos Alvarado hosted the International Conference on Law Enforcement in Crime Against Intellectual Property in the country, in October 2021.

Within the framework of this activity, Alvarado pointed out that it is important for governments to commit to developing training programs on intellectual property and enforcement procedures, and to configuring best practices for the different police, judicial and administrative agencies.

For the Judicial Investigation Department (OIJ, in Spanish), the crime against intellectual property has a clear link between illicit trade networks and other types of crime, such as human trafficking, corruption, bribery, money laundering, and illicit trade. This is a global phenomenon, the reason authorities in Costa Rica aim to share and receive the best practices against these crimes.