The Dominican Customs Registration of Owners of Intellectual Property Rights was created under Resolution 01-2010 of August 4, 2010, whose purpose is to facilitate the inspection works and withholding of merchandize during customs transit affected by a presumption of violation to the intellectual property rights.

Such register permits the streamlining of such measures at the border and optimizes the protection of intellectual property rights owners provided in Chapter XV of the Free Trade Agreement between the United States of America, Central America and the Dominican Republic (DR-CAFTA).

The registration in the Owners Registry is open to owners of intellectual property rights registered in the Dominican Industrial Property Office (ONAPI) and the National Copyrights Office (ONDA), as well as to licensees of owners (by permission of the rights’ owner) and has a validity of two (2) years renewable. In case of not having a certificate of registration of the works before the ONDA, the Intellectual Property rights owner shall present sufficient proof that allow for the verification of the ownership of such rights.

Our professionals can assist you in the process of registering and protecting your intellectual property rights at the Dominican Intellectual Property Office and the Dominican Customs Administration.

Do you want more information about our Dominican Intellectual Property Customs Registration Services? Contact Us.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Felipe Castillo is a Partner leading the Foreign Investment, Real Estate & Tourism areas at Arthur & Castillo Advisers and Consultants in the Dominican Republic. He specializes in foreign investment, real estate and international business (Master in International Business, Entrepreneurship and Finance Studies from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. & Masters in International E- Business in Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona) with more than 20 years of experience in Foreign Investment, Free Trade Zones, International Business and Cross Border Real Estate practice. He is a Certified Business Bankruptcy Expert and English and Spanish Interpreter.

Email: fcastillo@aclaw.com

Disclaimer: This publication is not intended to provide advice or suggest a guaranteed outcome as individual situations will differ and the situation may have changed since publication. For specific advice on the information provided and related topics, please contact the author.

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