In a move to optimize the business environment and stimulate market vitality, the Argentine National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) officially issued Resolution No. 583/2025 on December 11, 2025, introducing a systematic reform of the trademark registration system. The core of this reform lies in significantly simplifying examination procedures and clarifying the boundaries of review, aiming to markedly enhance registration efficiency and predictability of outcomes. This will provide entrepreneurs and businesses across the country with higher-quality intellectual property services.
Major Adjustments to Examination Scope: Official Examination Limited to “Absolute Grounds”
The most fundamental change in this reform is the redefinition of the Trademark Office’s examination responsibilities. According to the new regulations, official examination will focus solely on “absolute grounds for refusal,” which pertain to public interest, primarily including:
1. Signs lacking distinctiveness: Generic names, descriptive signs, or other marks incapable of distinguishing the source of goods or services.
2. Content contrary to public order or morality: Marks involving national symbols, discriminatory elements, or those contrary to social morals.
Meanwhile, “relative grounds,” which involve conflicts of private rights, will be entirely left to market participants to monitor. These mainly include:
Situations where a mark is similar to a prior registered trademark or application, likely to cause confusion.
Marks that may mislead the public regarding the quality, origin, or other characteristics of goods or services.
Unauthorized use of another person’s name, portrait, or other specific rights.
This means the Trademark Office will no longer actively reject applications based on the above relative grounds. The identification of and objections to such risks will now rely entirely on prior rights holders proactively filing oppositions within the statutory period. This change underscores the nature of trademark rights as “private rights,” emphasizes the responsibility of rights holders to protect their own interests, and aligns with international mainstream trademark practices, such as those in the European Union.
Optimized and Restructured Examination Process: From “Examination After Publication” to “Publication After Examination”
In addition to refining the scope of examination, the new regulations also revolutionize the sequence of the examination process, completely replacing the previous lengthy model of “publication first, followed by substantive examination, and then registration.” The new, more efficient process is as follows:
a) For eligible applications, the Trademark Office will immediately conduct both formal and substantive examinations (limited to the aforementioned absolute grounds) in parallel after acceptance, all of which will be completed before the application is published.
b) If the examination is passed, the application will be published in the Trademark Gazette.
c) Starting from the publication date, a statutory 30-day opposition period begins. If no third party files an opposition, the trademark will be directly registered.
d) If an opposition is filed, subsequent procedures will follow the established administrative opposition resolution rules.
This “pre-grant examination” model moves the most time-consuming substantive examination stage to before publication, allowing uncontested trademarks to be registered swiftly after the opposition period ends, significantly shortening the overall registration cycle.
Phased Implementation to Ensure a Smooth Transition
To ensure the smooth implementation of the reform, the new regulations will be rolled out in two phases: Effective from the date of the resolution’s issuance (December 11, 2025): The new examination scope standards take effect immediately, applying to all pending and newly filed trademark applications. Effective from March 1, 2026: The new “publication after examination” process officially comes into force. This buffer period provides the Trademark Office with the necessary time to adjust internal systems and workflows.
Source: https://www.boletinoficial.gob.ar/web/utils/pdfView?file=%2Fpdf%2Faviso%2Fprimera%2F335945%2F20251211
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