• Patent fees

Fees associated with filing patent applications in Ecuador as well as other patent fees are available in the fee calculator.

• The term for filing a patent application in Ecuador

• Filing requirements in Ecuador

• Examination of an Ecuadorian patent application

Patent applications undergo formal and substantive examinations. Petition for appointment of an examiner must be filed within six months from the publication of the application; however, the examination fee becomes due when the examiner is appointed (approximately two years).

• Novelty grace period

The novelty grace period in Ecuador is twelve months prior to the filing or priority date. If the application became available to the public within this period, it does not disprove the novelty of the invention in Ecuador.

The novelty grace period only applies to disclosures originated from:
- inventor or his successor;
- national competent office which publishes the content of the application filed by the inventor or his successor; or
- third party who has obtained the information directly or indirectly from the inventor or his successor.

• Grant, validity term and maintenance fees

A grant fee for patent registration in Ecuador is not stipulated. Patents in Ecuador are in force for twenty years from the filing date. Maintenance fees are due each year starting from the priority date and should be paid for the pending applications before the expiry of the last day of the month in which the anniversary of the filing date occurs. Late payment is possible within a six-month grace period after the due date by paying a corresponding surcharge.

• Duration of registration procedure

Average processing time for patent registration procedure in Ecuador is 5–7 years.

• Utility Model

Inventions may also be protected as Utility Models in Ecuador, which are subject to formal and substantive examinations.

Utility Model in Ecuador shall be granted to a new form, configuration, disposition of elements, any device, tool, instrument, mechanism or other object or any its part, that permits a better or different functioning, use or manufacture of the object which incorporates or which offers any use, advantage or technical effect that it did not have previously.

Maximum protection period of a utility model in Ecuador is ten years from the date of filing.

• Representation by a patent attorney

For foreign patent applicants, it is necessary to perform patent registration in Ecuador through a registered Ecuadorian patent attorney.

• Note

Online Search Database: LATIPAT.

Brief summary is based on the information provided by ABREU & ASOCIADOS on 31.01.2025
Please contact us if the above information is not in conformity with Ecuadorian IP Laws.