COLOMBIA
GRANTING OF THE FIRST TACTILE TRADEMARK IN COLOMBIA
The Colombian Trademark Office recently granted the first tactile trademark for the recognized “Old Parr” whisky bottle by means of Resolution No. 3718 of 2016, which also settled the formal requirements for obtaining such trademark protection.
Decision 486 of the Andean Community, which regulates industrial property matters in Colombia, provides the possibility of obtaining protection for tactile trademarks. Recently, the Colombian Trademark Office granted the first tactile trademark for the recognized “Old Parr” whisky bottle in class 33 which covers liqueurs except beers. The engraving was registered by the Trademark and Patent Office and is described as “crackle or cracked appearance, chapped, created from the agglomeration of irregular geometric shapes which include mostly pentagons, rhomboids and hexagons, whose sides measures or line segments are 3 to 6 mm in length, 0.08 to 0.5 millimeters in height and from 0.1 to 1 mm thick. “
The granting of this first tactile trademark is undoubtedly an evolution in the Colombian trademark system and Resolution No. 3718 of 2016 established the procedure for tactile brands to meet all formal requirements. Therefore, in order to obtain registration, the applicant must submit photographs and physical samples of the texture.
In regards to the opposition procedure, the PTO must have a sample of the applied trademark in order to allow third parties to touch and experience the texture and then decide if they wish to oppose.