Filing Requirements

1. Power of attorney of the applicant. This document does not require legalization nor notarization.
2. Description of the Invention, which must include:
   ⦁ The name of the invention,
   ⦁ The technological sector to which the invention is related.
   ⦁ The technology previously known by the applicant which could be useful for the comprehension and test of the invention, as well as reference to the mentioned documents and publications related to this technology;
3. Drawings, chemical formula or sketches of the invention, depending on its nature.
4. Claim (s) object of the invention.
5. An abstract of the invention, which must consist of the summarized explanation of the description, claims and drawings; and if such is the case, the chemical formula as well or the drawing that distinguishes the invention.
6. When the invention refers to a biological product or procedure which requires the use of a biological material that is not available to the public and it cannot be describe in such a way as to permit the execution or application of the invention by an expert in the field or area of the invention, the description of the invention must be complemented by depositing said biological material at a storage or warehouse entity recognized by the Budapest Treaty of 1977 related to the international recognition of deposit of microorganisms for procedure purposes. This deposit must be made no later than the date of filing of the application for the patent in Panama or the date of the claim of priority. In this case, the description of the invention must set forth the name and address of said institution, the date of deposit and the deposit number.
7. A certified copy of the priority document. It does not require any legalization. This document must be filed in Panama within the next six months after such application was filed in this country of origin.
8. Certified copy of the assignment agreement of the invention if the inventor is different from the applicant. This document must come duly legalized by Consul or Apostilled

In case do we file the application without the mentioned documents, we will need them no later than:

1. Power of Attorney: 2 months counted from the date of application.
2. Assignment by the inventors with Apostille or consular authentication: 6 months from the date of the respective public notice,
3. Copy of the priority application with description and claims, certified by the priority office, pursuant to the Paris Convention: 6 months from the date of application.
4. Payment for the State of Art Report and its Publication: 14 months from the date of priority, US$247.20.

The omission of any of these requirements beyond these deadlines results in the denial of the application. In order to duly process these documents, they must arrive at our office 3 business days before their due date. Post application late filing of documents is made under fees of US$75.00 per filing plus taxes and expenses.

Registration Procedure

The Patent law grants a period of fourteen (14) months counted from the date of filing the application or date of priority of the application, to request before the Patent Office to prepare the report on the state of the art of the invention.

The publication of the state of art of report will take place 18 months after the date of filing of the application or the priority date. The report on the state of the art will also be published in the Industrial Property Official Bulletin. A period of two (2) months is given for third parties to submit observations against this report. Any observations received will be sent to the applicant, who will also have a period of two (2) months to reply.
If no objections are submitted, the patent is granted.

Payments of Registration Fees for Patents

The patents are granted for a term of twenty (20) years, counted as from the date of filing of the application, non-extendable. The first payment corresponding to the first five (5) years will be paid at the moment of filing the application, and the following payments each quinquennial, counted as of the date of filing of the application.

The payment can be done at any moment before the expiration of the respective quinquennial. Our legislation will provide a grace period of six months for the payment of registration fees for patents; this will start to count from the date in which the respective payment should have been done.