This article first appeared on WTR Daily, part of World Trademark Review, in February 2020. For further information, please go to www.worldtrademarkreview.com.
Image from Be[in]crypto
IP prosecution fee change sparks concern among US rights holders
- New decree orders all foreign payments to be made in the cryptocurrency petro
- This is problematic for US rights holders, which are expressly prohibited from using this currency
- At the time of writing, US dollars and euros are still being accepted – it is not known when this situation will change
On 14 January a new presidential decree to handle the “state of emergency and financial emergency” was announced and published. As a result, nine public agencies have amended their systems in order to exclusively accept payments in the cryptocurrency petro for services rendered on behalf of foreign entities. The Venezuelan IP Office (SAPI) is subject to this resolution and an administrative ruling implementing the order is due imminently.
Once again, the principle of national treatment has been challenged by local authorities, since payment in local currency will remain available only for Venezuelan entities, while foreign companies will need to make payments in petros.
This attempt to make the petro the only payment option for foreign entities could be problematic for US IP rights holders. Executive Order 13827 issued by the US government on 19 March 2018 prohibits all transactions involving “any digital currency, digital coin or digital token that was issued by, for, or on behalf of the Government of Venezuela on or after 9 January 2018” – this includes the petro. This ban applies to the following (unless exempted by a licence granted by US authorities):
- US citizens and permanent resident aliens;
- entities organised under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States (including foreign branches of such entities); and/or
- any person within the United States.
General Licence 2 issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Department of Treasury on 5 August 2019 expressly permits payments to the Venezuelan government for the filing, prosecution and maintenance of patent, trademark, copyright or other forms of IP protection in Venezuela, including opposition and infringement proceedings. However, it expressly states that it does not authorise any transaction that is otherwise prohibited by Executive Order 13827/2018.
At the time of writing, SAPI is still accepting payments in US dollars and euros – there is no further information available as to when it will enforce the latest regulation regarding payments in petros
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