COLOMBIA
NON-USE CANCELLATION ACTIONS FOR PUBLIC INTEREST REASONS
The Colombian Trademark Office has stated that non-use cancellation actions may be continued for public interest reasons despite of potential withdrawals of said actions by their applicants
Non-use cancellation actions are defense mechanisms for trademark applicants seeking to obtain the registration of similar or identical trademarks to existing trademark registrations. If the trademark blocking registration has been registered for over three years, a non-use cancellation action may be filed against it and its registration will be cancelled if its owner fails to prove use in any of the Andean Community Countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador or Peru) during the previous three years.
Before the issuance of Resolution No. 57439 of 2017, if the applicant of a non-use cancellation action filed its withdrawal the trademark object of cancellation would not be cancelled.
However, the Trademark Office has now stated that non-use cancellation actions may be continued for public interest reasons.
The public interest in this case would be the need to purge the trademark registry by deleting the registration of trademarks that are not in use. Moreover, considering that trademark rights are granted to be exercised and that a trademark may only carry out its purpose when in use. This is the reason why the consequence of not using a trademark is precisely its cancellation.
