Glossary

No

Concept

Definition

1

Strasbourg Agreement

Agreement reached in 1971 in Strasbourg, establishing regulations concerning the International Patent Classification.

2

The Hague Agreement

Agreement reached on November 6, 1925 in the Hague, establishing regulations concerning the  International Deposit of Industrial Designs and Models.

3

Lisbon Agreement

Agreement reached in 1958 in Lisbon, establishing regulations on the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration.

4

Locarno Agreement

Agreement reached in 1968 in Locarno, Switzerland, establishing an International Classification for Industrial Designs and Models.

5

Madrid Agreement

Agreement reached on April 14, 1891 in Madrid, establishing regulations concerning the International Registration of Marks and the  Repression of False or Deceptive Indications of Source on Goods

6

Nice Agreement

Agreement reached in 1957, in Nice, establishing regulations concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks

7

Vienna Agreement

Agreement reached in 1973 in Vienna, establishing regulations concerning the International Classification
of Figurative Elements of Marks

8

Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)

An extensive and comprehensive agreement concerning Intellectual Property. Generally applied since January 1, 1996, and since the year 2000 in developing countries.

9

Intellectual Property agent

A specialist with the capacity to prepare and process requests for rights concerning intellectual property on behalf and to the benefit of an applicant

10

Search for antecedents

Inquiry on protected acts whose purpose is to determine the potential existence of industrial property rights that have effects in a defined territory

11

Letter of intent

Written proof of a first agreement concerning the essential characteristics of a future contract, expressing the fundamental elements of the future contract, such as identities of the parties, objectives of the project, corresponding contributions, duration of cooperation, and others

12

Assignor

Person who assigns a good or a right

13

Assignor of license

Individual or corporation which assigns a license to be used by third parties under the conditions established by a contract

14

Authorship Certificate

A particular procedure to protect inventions, in parallel with a patent; applied in some countries

15

Registration Certificate

A document issued by an intellectual property management office, certifying that rights have been granted or registered on a certain distinctive sign

16

Cession

A contract by which all or part of property rights are transferred to a third party. For businesses, the cession may take place through a sale, merger, regrouping or merger, and also when a businessperson negotiates distribution or license contracts with third parties

17

Integrated circuit

A product, in its final or intermediate form, of whose elements at least one is not active, and one or all of whose interconnections are a part of the body or surface of a piece of material, designed to carry out an electronic function

18

License granting

Act by which a holder of industrial property title assigns or transfers to a third party the right to use the entirety or part of the rights which are conferred upon him or her by this title

19

Confidentiality

Ethical principle that guarantees nondisclosure of results or sensitive knowledge, or knowledge whose value may increase

20

Licensing contract

Act by which the holder of a patent assigns to the licensee the exploitation of his or her invention as compensation for payment of remuneration; the contract may be exclusive or non-exclusive.

21

Exclusive licensing contract

Licensing contract by which the holder of a patent authorizes the monopoly of his/her invention only to the licensee, and makes a commitment to not assign it to others in the same territory as the licensee

22

Paris Convention

Convention carried out on March 20, 1883, establishing regulations for the Protection of Industrial Property

23

Co-ownership

Patents whose holders are the inventor and one or several partners

24

Denomination of Origin

Geographic denomination, designation, expression, image or sign of a country, a region or a place, useful for designating a good as originating from the territory of a country, region or place in that territory, and whose qualities or characteristics are exclusively due to geography, including human and natural factors. Geographic denomination of a country, region or place, useful for designating a product originating from it and whose qualities or characteristics are due, exclusively or essentially, to geographic factors, including human and natural factors

25

Priority right

Right that allows the applicant for patent protection, a utility model, a drawing or industrial model, or a mark which was submitted in a member country, to claim some rights when requesting protection in those countries, provided that they are requested within specified time periods

26

Description

Technical report accompanying an invention which must be included in the application for the corresponding patent

27

Industrial drawing

A combination of lines or colors

28

Emblem

Figurative sign that identifies and sets apart a business or establishment

29

Circuit layout

Three-dimensional arrangement, expressed in any way, of elements of which at least one is active, and interconnections of an integrated circuit, as well as that three-dimensional arrangement prepared for an integrated circuit to be manufactured

30

Forgery

Action that consists of making or selling a product which entails an intentional and premeditated reproduction of an original trademark. The forged trademark is identical or substantially impossible to distinguish from the original trademark. Frequently, forged goods are made in imitation of a popular product, in its construction and appearance, with the purpose of deceiving clients, making them believe that they are buying the original merchandise.  // Unauthorized representation of a trademark in identical or similar products to the original ones protected by a registered trademark, for the purpose of making buyers believe that they are acquiring an original product

31

Parallel importation

When a product legally manufactured overseas  is imported without the permission of the intellectual property right's holder (for instance, the holder of a trademark or a patent)

32

Misrepresentation

In trademarks, replacement of one brand of goods by another, or a violation in which the offender attempts to purposefully deceive or misguide buyers

33

Geographic indication

Geographic name of a country, a region or a place, used in the presentation of a good to indicate its place of origin, preparation, collection, or extraction. // That which identifies a product as originating from the territory of a Member or from a region or place in that territory, when a certain quality, reputation or other characteristic of the product is attributable basically to its geographic origin. For instance, "Champagne", "Tequila" or "Roquefort"

34

Invention

All creations of the human intellect, capable of being applied in industry, which comply with patentability conditions provided in this Law. It can be a product, a machine, a tool or a manufacturing procedure, and is protected by a patent. // Creation of a new technical idea and of the physical means to make it material or give it a tangible form. To obtain a patent, an invention must be innovative, have some utility, and be different from other similar creations

35

Procedural invention

Any sequence of steps, or their parts and nature, leading to the manufacturing or obtaining of a product or result

36

Product invention

Any substance or material and any article, apparatus, machine, equipment, device or other tangible object or result, as well as any part of them

37

License

Permit granted for using an intellectual property right within a defined period of time, context, market line or territory. Licenses may be exclusive or non-exclusive, depending on whether they may or may not be used exclusively within a defined scope.

38

Compulsory license

Applied to patents when authorities grant a license to businesses or persons different from the patent holder, for using the patent's rights: manufacturing, using, selling or importing a product which is protected by a patent (this is, a patented product or a product manufactured through a patented procedure), without authorization from the patent holder. Allowed within the framework of the TRIPS Agreement, provided that certain procedures and conditions are fulfilled

39

Licensee

Person or entity holding a license, who offers his/her work under the terms of a license

40

Mark

Any sign or combination of signs which makes it possible to distinguish the goods or services of a person from those of another, because they are considered sufficiently distinctive, or make it possible to identify certain goods or services as opposed to other goods or services of the same kind or type

41

Collective mark

Sign or combination of signs owned by a collective entity that groups together persons authorized by the owner to use the trademark

42

Trademark

Word, motto, design, image or other symbol used for identifying and distinguishing goods. Any identifying symbol which is acceptable for receiving the legal designation of a registered mark, service mark, collective mark, certification mark, brand name or commercial presentation

43

Certification mark

Sign or combination of signs which is applied to products or services whose characteristics or quality have been controlled and certified by the mark's holder

44

Brand name or trademark

Any sign or combination of signs which are able to distinguish the goods or services of a business from those of others. Said signs may be registered as brand names or trademarks, in particular words, including names of persons, letters, numbers, figurative elements and combinations of colors, as well as any combination of these signs

45

Cattle brand

The brand consists of a figure or figures, letter or letters, or a set of letters, or of letters and figures, which can be marked on animals' skin in a visible and permanent manner, through processes considered appropriate

46

Widely known mark

Sign or combination of signs which are known in international trade, a pertinent sector of the public, or in business circles

47

Service mark

A word, motto, design, illustration or any other symbol used for identifying and distinguishing a service, as opposed to a product

48

Registered mark (trademark)

Any word, name, symbol, device or combination of the above used for identifying and distinguishing a product in the market

49

Industrial model

All plastic forms, related or not to lines or colors, provided that said combination or forms gives a special appearance to an industrial product or handicraft, which may serve as the model for its manufacturing

50

Utility model

Each new arrangement or form obtained or introduced in tools, known work instruments or utensils, which make it possible to improve the functions or a special function for their use

51

Trade name

Denominative or mixed sign which identifies and distinguishes a certain business or establishment

52

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

A specialized agency of the United Nations, with offices in Geneva, Switzerland, created in 1967, in charge of promoting protection of intellectual property around the world

53

Patent

Concession granted to an invention, in virtue of which the owner acquires the right to exclude other persons from the manufacture, use or sale of said invention

54

Pending patent

Patent submitted to the appropriate organization, the results of whose evaluation have not been received. Its registration informs third parties that an application has been filed for a patent, and that legal protection (with retroactive rights) may be granted in the near future

55

Piracy

In intellectual property, an illegal violation of author's rights. The term lacks legal validity in itself.// Unauthorized reproduction of materials protected by intellectual property rights (such as author's rights, brand names or trademarks, patents, geographic indications, etc.) made for commercial purposes, and unauthorized commerce in reproduced materials

56

Industrial property

Property rights that, in an extended sense, are applied to industry and trade, properly said, as well as to the sphere of agricultural and extractive industries, and to all manufactured or natural products

57

Full ownership

Patent for which an inventor is the exclusive consignee and holder of the pertinent rights

58

Registered name

Denomination which makes it possible to identify a legal person or business granted its own legal existence. It must be recorded in the Registry of Commerce and Corporations. It should not be confused with a trade name

59

Costa Rican Industrial Property Registry

Official Entity, part of the National Registry, in charge of Recording  and registering industrial property rights

60

Renewal

Extension of the registration of an intellectual property right for an additional period of time. It may pertain to author's rights, marks, trade denominations and other types of intellectual property rights

61

Advertising slogan

Every legend, advertisement, motto, phrase, combination of words, design, recording or any other similar means, provided that it is original, characteristic, and is used to attract consumers' or users' attention to a certain product, service, business, establishment or commercial place

62

Distinctive sign

Any sign which is a mark, a trade name or a symbol

63

Applicant

Legal entity or person who presents an application for an industrial property title (an application for a patent or application for the registration of a mark, for instance), before an industrial property office

64

Renewal fees

Fees required for renewing the registration of an intellectual property right for an additional period of time

65

Rights holder

Legal entity or person who, according to applicable legislation, must be considered as a beneficiary of the protection of an intellectual property right

66

Patent holder

Person to whom the right represented by a patent belongs

67

Transfer

The act of transferring the rights of a mark that is registered or in the process of being registered, by inter vivos or mortis causa acts. The transfer must be on record in written form and must be registered to have an effect on third parties and requires the payment of a registration fee.

68

Washington Treaty

A treaty for the protection of intellectual property concerning sketches or layouts of integrated circuits