In a guest post, Ricardo Alberto Antequera brings an important update on official patent and trade mark fees in Venezuela

On February 1, a year after announcing fee changes, the Venezuelan PTO (SAPI) finally published the new schedule of charges. Payment of official fees has been suspended since February 2018.  

This new resolution creates serious issues, at least for US IP holders, since it states that foreign entities must pay all official fees (either for pending matters or new petitions) in PETRO, a cryptocurrency created by Nicolás Maduro’s administration in February 2018 as a way to collect US dollars while avoiding US sanctions.

However, an Executive Order issued by President Donald Trump on 19 March 19 2018 banned transactions involving “any digital currency, digital coin, or digital token, that was issued by, for, or on behalf of the Government of Venezuela on or after 9 January 2018”.

This prohibition applies to (unless exempted by a licence granted by US authorities):

• United States citizens and permanent resident aliens;
• Entities organized under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States (including foreign branches of such entities); or
• Any person within the United States.

The new SAPI Official Fees Schedule is retroactive to all transactions since it suspended fee payments, back in February 2018, and also establishes a 60-day term (which could be extended at SAPI´s sole discretion) to pay official fees for all national and foreign entities interested in maintaining patent or trade mark rights accepted for registrations during the suspension of fees.

In view of the above complex scenario, it is strongly recommended that brand owners outside of the US confer with their compliance team before proceeding with making payments in PETRO.

By Ricardo Alberto Antequera of Antequera Parilli & Rodriguez. Ricardo is a MARQUES member