No. All contents on the Internet have a creator, which is why it is necessary to verify if they are protected by some type of intellectual property (such as a trademark or copyright) and if they have been published with licenses that allow for free use and the terms under which their use is allowed. Otherwise, it will be necessary to have the license holder’s permission to use them.
Some exceptions that do not require permission from the holder are the following:
We can help you follow all the steps and so, avoid infringing third party rights.
First, we suggest contacting the unauthorized user directly and seeking a direct solution. This way you can save money and time. Always keep written record of this contact and of the efforts you make to seek this solution.
If you do not receive a quick and positive response, you might consider filing a complaint for infringement before INDECOPI or, if the use occurs on a social networking site, you can file a claim directly through the channels implemented by each social networking site.
Please, note that in order to start a claim before INDECOPI, it will be necessary for you to have identified the person or company using your intellectual property without authorization and have proof of the use of your intellectual property in Peru.
We can help you follow all the necessary steps.
Here we share a chart to illustrate those differences:
CORPORATE NAME | COMPANY NAME | TRADE NAME | TRADEMARK | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Function / Use | It identifies capital-based companies: i) public limited corporation, and ii) limited liability commercial corporation. | It identifies partnerships: i) ordinary civil or general partnership; ii) limited liability civil partnership; iii) joint venture; and iv) limited partnership. | It is the name by which your customers know you (it identifies the business or the commercial activity). | It is the name by which your customers identify your products or services. |
Setup | Any name/ denomination. | Partners’ names. | Any distinctive sign | Any distinctive sign |
How do I protect it? | Mandatory registration before SUNARP. | Mandatory registration before SUNARP. | Optional registration before INDECOPI. | Mandatory registration before INDECOPI. |
Sometimes the corporate name, trade name and trademark may be the same, but it is important to establish a difference between them and know that each one is protected in a different way.
Yes, registration is not mandatory to use a trademark. However, only after registration, will we be able to consider ourselves rights-holders over the trademark and consider it a business asset. Registration will also enable us to prevent third parties from copying it and we will eliminate the risk that any third party may already have it registered in their name or may do so later and try to prevent us from continuing to use it, with the risk of being sanctioned.
i. Identify what you want to protect: a word mark, a mixed mark (isotype + denomination) or a figurative mark (isotype only). If it is a mixed or figurative mark, verify if the colors are relevant or not. If they are, you will have to ask for protection on them.
ii. Identify all the goods and/or services on which you will use the mark and locate the corresponding class(es) in the Nice Classification (consisting of 34 classes of goods and 11 classes of services).
iii. We suggest you conduct a phonetic background search on Busca Tu Marca to verify that no one else has registered rights over a trademark identical or similar to the one you are interested in.
iv. Apply for registration before INDECOPI or seek specialized advice to facilitate the full process. We can help you.
Trademark registration gives its owner the following rights:
i) It becomes a company asset which can be monetized for a period of 10 years, renewable indefinitely.
ii) It prevents third parties from using it without prior authorization or registering it in their name in Peru. If you want protection of your trademark in other countries, you will have to register the trademark in the countries of your interest.
Yes, it is possible, but we must differentiate the personal right we have over our names and last names from the rights we may have over a trademark. On the one hand, trademarks identify specific products or services in commercial traffic. On the other hand, names and last names identify people in society.
Having rights to our first and last names as part of our identity does not give us automatic rights to them as a trademark.
That is why if you want to use your name or last name as a trademark, it will be important to verify if someone else has already protected this name or last name for the same products or services you are interested in. To do this, you can do a phonetic background search on Busca Tu Marca. This way we will eliminate the risk that any third party may already have it registered in its name or may do so later and try to prevent us from continuing to use it, with the subsequent risk of being sanctioned.
Exceptionally, the names belonging to people widely known by consumers are protected even if they are not registered as trademarks. In these cases, any third party is forbidden from registering trademarks that may affect the identity or prestige of such widely known individuals, without prior authorization from them or, if they are deceased, from their heirs.
It is forbidden to register a famous person’s name in to take advantage of their reputation and reach consumers more easily, as this would be an unfair conduct which may mislead consumers.
I must request a new registration. It is not possible to make modifications to the previous registration. As trademarks evolve over time, it is important to have the latest registered version. This way you will not run the risk of having your trademark registration cancelled due to lack of use because it does not match the version you have protected in the original registration.
Yes, influencers must always declare their content is advertising if their comments or opinions have a consideration. Remember that failure to declare their content is advertising is a violation of the Principle of Authenticity, and that both you as the advertiser and the influencer may be sanctioned by the competent authority.
Yes, it is, but in the following cases:
It is any type of information which identifies you or makes you identifiable, for example, your name and last name, your national identity card or your passport number, your telephone number, your fingerprint, your image and voice, among others. Do not forget that only natural persons have personal data, information belonging to legal entities is not covered by this concept.
Yes, according to law, any type of use concerning personal data (such as access, storage on any type of media, modification, updating, visualization, deletion, blocking, among others) is considered “personal data processing” and must comply with regulations, whether it involves 1 or 100 pieces of data. Therefore, it is essential that if you use or access personal data belonging to your employees/collaborators, suppliers, customers or any person in your company, you must comply with the principles of consent, purpose, proportionality, security and others established in Law 29733 and its regulations.
All of those who carry out activities in establishments open to the public, whether it is in their own store, stand in a fair or shopping center, in coworking spaces presented as independent establishments, with their own RUC (Unified Taxpayer Registration) number and their own invoicing forms, even on e-commerce or marketplace.
You must have a claims book in each of your establishments, and you must also place a notice of its existence and state your consumers have the right to request it. If you provide services or sell products online, you must implement a virtual claims book and place the corresponding notice stating you have one on your website.
The Claims Book Regulation (Supreme Decree 011-2011-PCM) has formats for the claims book sheets and the notice sheet and contains the basic information and conditions that must be observed.
If you will have a physical claims book, you can purchase it from a bookstore. It contains claim forms, each in sets of 3 sheets, where 2 sheets are detachable and self-copying. The original form is for the consumer, the first copy stays with the supplier and the third sheet is for INDECOPI, if requested.
If you will have a virtual claims book in your physical store, you must have an easily accessible platform in your premises and assist the consumer when they register their complaint or claim, sending a copy of the claim/complaint to the corresponding email address, including time and date.
The notice in the claim book must be exactly the same as the one in the regulation’s appendix. You must not use alternative images.
It should be noted that the Claims Book Notice must have the minimum size of one A4 sheet. Likewise, each of the letters in the phrase “Complaints Book” must have a minimum font size of 1×1 centimeters and the letters in the phrase “In accordance with the provisions of the Code of Consumer Protection and Defense, this establishment has a physical or virtual Complaints Book at your disposal. Please, request it to register a complaint or claim” must have a minimum font size of 0.5 x 0.5 centimeters.
*Supplier shall indicate whether the Complaints Book of the establishment is physical or virtual.
If you receive a complaint or claim, you are obliged to provide a response within 15 calendar days, which cannot be extended, except for entities in the financial and insurance system supervised by the Superintendence of Banking, Insurance and AFP (SBS), since a special rule applies to them, which gives them a period of 30 calendar days to produce a response, but which may be extended exceptionally.
If you do not have a claims book or if you do not answer a complaint or claim within the legal term, your sanction may go from a reprimand to even a fine consisting of 10 UIT (UIT = Unidad Impositiva Tributaria, or Tax Unit, whose value as of 2024 is S/. 5,150.00), depending on the size of the company. Therefore, it is essential that the personnel in charge of dealing with the public are aware of its importance and help to take advantage of the claims book as a tool that benefits the business.