URUGUAY
LAW N° 20.446
Amendments to Patent Law N° 17.164 in light of the entry into force of the PCT Treaty
On January 1, 2026, the National Budget Law for the 2025–2029 period (Law N° 20.446) entered into force, which, among other amendments, modifies the Patent Law in order to align it with the provisions of the PCT.
Articles 277, 278 and 279 of Law N° 20.446 amend Articles 21, 24 and 117 of Patent Law N° 17.164 to include provisions related to the entry into National Phase, restoration of priority rights, and the establishment of official fees.
-
National Phase entry:
Article 277 of Law N° 20.446 amends Article 21 of the Patent Law as follows:
To the original wording of Article 21, which stated: “The patent of invention shall have a term of twenty years, counted from the filing date of the application”, the following is added:
“International applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) must enter the national phase within thirty months from the priority date of the PCT application, with the international filing date being considered the national filing date.
If the applicant fails to comply with the time limit for entry into the national phase, a request for restoration of rights may be filed within two months from the date of removal of the cause of the failure to observe the applicable time limit, or twelve months from the expiration of the applicable time limit, whichever expires first, subject to payment of the corresponding fee.”
-
Restoration of Priority Rights:
Article 278 of Law N° 20.446 amends Article 24 of the Patent Law as follows:
To the original wording of Article 24, which provided: “Where a foreign priority is claimed in accordance with paragraph D) of Article 4 of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (Decree-Law N° 14.910 of July 19, 1979, the applicant shall have a period of one hundred and eighty days to submit the certified copy of the application issued by the national filing authority.
Failure to submit such document within said period shall result in the loss of the right of priority”, the following is added:
“The applicant may request restoration of priority rights within two months following the expiration of the priority period established in paragraph D) of Article 4 of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (Decree-Law N° 14.910 of July 19, 1979), by filing a request for restoration of priority rights and paying the corresponding fee.”
-
Fees for Filing an International PCT Application Using the National Directorate of Industrial Property and Software Registry as Receiving Office:
Article 279 of Law N° 20.446 amends Article 117 of the Patent Law, which sets forth the amount of official fees in Indexed Units (U.I.), in order to include the following fees:
“Transmittal Fee: 672,6
Fee for Request for Restoration of Priority Rights: 3363,1
Fee for Request for Restoration of Rights: 3363,1”.
These fees are updated based on the value of the Indexed Unit (U.I.) and currently amount to approximately:
-
Transmittal Fee – U$S 112
-
Fee for Request for Restoration of Priority Rights: – U$S 560
-
Fee for Request for Restoration of Rights: – U$S 560
The approval of this article ensures compliance with the principle of legality in tax matters, which requires that fees be established by legislative enactment.
In our view, these amendments constitute a significant step forward in the application and implementation of the PCT Treaty in Uruguay.
-
Resolution 01/2026 of the Uruguayan Patent Office:
In light of the foregoing, on January 2, 2026, the National Directorate of Industrial Property and Software Registry issued Resolution 01/2026, which revokes the previous Resolution 23/2024 that had established the fees related to the filing of International PCT Applications.
Considering that, as mentioned above, such fees have now been established by law, the revocation of Resolution 23/2024 is therefore appropriate.
——————————————————–
Entry into Force of the PCT in Uruguay – General Comments:
The PCT entered into force in Uruguay on January 7, 2025.
Regarding the validity and implementation of the PCT system in our country, please note the following:
1. Applicants– whether individuals or legal entities – who are nationals or domiciled in Uruguay will be able to benefit from this treaty starting from this date in order to file International Applications with Uruguay as Receiving Office (RO).
2. Also, International PCT Applications filed on or after January 7, 2025, will be eligible for entry into the national phase in Uruguay through the PCT.
3. The Uruguayan Patent Office will act as a Receiving Office for Uruguayan applicants starting January 7, 2025, with Spanish as the language of submission.
Our Patent Team at FISCHER Abogados is pleased to be available to address any questions or inquiries regarding Uruguay’s accession to the PCT.
