Background
Approval by Uruguay of the Gatt agreement on TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects on Intellectual Property Right, Incuding Trade in Counterfeit Goods), by law Nº 16.671 of December 13, 1994, promoted the revision of the various rules and regulations in Intellectual Property.
As a reaction to the TRIPS agreement, and in order to modernize IP laws which were more than half a century old (the Trademark Act was approved in 1940, and the Patent Act, in 1941), the trademark and patent laws were revised, and a new Trademark Act (Nº 17.011 of September 25, 1998), was first approved.
As to patents, the proposed bill was submitted to the Legislative in December, 1997, and was finally approved on September 20, 1999. The bill originated in the Uruguayan Patent and Trademark Office, a governmental agency subordinate to the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining. The P.T.O. officers were mainly responsible for drafting the provisions of the bill, following – as indicated in the Executive
