Recent Changes In Patent Annuity Payments

The Directorate of Patents of the Costa Rican PTO has recently reviewed and reinterpreted the provisions of the Regulations to the Costa Rican Patent Law 6867 regarding patent annuity payments. The main changes are as follows:

• The first annuity for PCT applications corresponds to the first year of the international application, and not to the first year of the national application, as established before by the Costa Rican PTO.
• After grant, the Costa Rican PTO will issue an official requirement indicating the accumulated annuities that must be paid and the deadline to proceed with the payment (two months from the notification of grant). If the annuities are not paid, a six-month grace period will be granted, with a 30 percent surcharge.If the annuities are not paid even after the six-moth grant period, two ten-day office actions will be issued requiring the corresponding payment plus applicable interests.