It is not so
common, but…
When trying to register
trademarks in Colombia, the
most common thing people
and companies do is use the
Latin alphabet, although it is
possible to register
trademarks that are typed in
other writing systems.
Has the colombian
trademark office (CTO)
mentioned something
regarding this topic?
In the trademark registration examination
instructions of the CTO, it is stated that when the
trademark consists totally or partially of non-Latin
characters or non-Arabic or Roman numerals, the
examiner must verify that the applicant has
indicated the type of mark, whether it is a word or
design mark.
If the applicant indicated that it is a word mark, the
examiner must verify that there is a transliteration
or a translation of that content into Latin
characters or Arabic numerals, and if not, the
examiner will issue an office action requesting
clarification.
So, what does this mean?
It means that if you are applying for the
registration of a word mark in Asian
characters, you must submit its
transliteration. That is the only
requirement that the CTO mentions.
What is
transliteration?
Transliteration refers to the act of
representing the signs of one writing
system using the signs of another
system. In this case, you will have to
transliterate the Asian Characters into
letters of the Latin Alphabet.
Have there been any statements from the court of justice of the andean community regarding this topic?
Yes. In fact, there are plenty of precedents in
which the Court of Justice of the Andean
Community has stated that foreign words that
are not part of common knowledge are
considered fantasy signs and, consequently,
can be registered as trademarks.
Taking into account that it is not common for
people in Colombia to read or understand words
that were written in Asian Characters,
trademarks in said writing system can be
registered in our country as they are considered
highly distinctive.
In conclusion:
YES! In Colombia you can
register trademarks in Asian
Characters or any other
non-Latin writing system. Just
make sure to add the
transliteration of the
trademark along with the
original writing.
Keep this information in mind
in case you ever need to
register a trademark using
Asian or any other non-Latin
Characters.
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