Your business receives a cancellation notice concerning its Colombian trademark. The Colombian launch was delayed, but an authorized distributor has sold branded products elsewhere in the Andean region.
Should those records be ignored?
Start by reviewing the applicable territory, period and commercial evidence. Do not abandon a defense solely because headquarters cannot immediately locate Colombian retail invoices.
This guide explains preparation for a non-use cancellation assessment. It does not report a particular SIC judgment or guarantee that regional sales will preserve a registration.
Article 165 of Andean Community Decision 486 addresses unjustified non-use during the three consecutive years preceding a cancellation action, including qualifying use by the owner, a licensee or another authorized person in at least one member country.
It also sets a separate earliest-action threshold linked to notification of the decision completing registration.
Read Decision 486 through WIPO Lex. These rules concern cancellation proceedings, not automatic expiry on a registration’s third anniversary.
Ask the responsible adviser to identify the dates and conditions relevant to the particular registration.
Keep the complete cancellation application, attachments and notification record.
Retrieve the registration decision, specification, ownership changes and relevant correspondence. Record who received the notice and when it reached the business.
Identify the challenged goods or services. A portfolio summary may omit details needed to assess the actual proceeding.
For broader registration and maintenance issues, read our Colombian trademark law guide.
Request records from the businesses that handled the relevant products.
Useful preparation materials include invoices, accounting records, delivery documents, product photographs and distributor reports.
Organize them by country, product and transaction date. Explain whether an entry concerns an order, completed delivery, return or cancelled transaction.
Keep originals accessible when preparing translations. Mark gaps rather than combining incomplete records into an unsupported account of continuous sales.
The objective is a commercial history that another reviewer can follow.
An invoice may identify a stock code without displaying the trademark.
Preserve catalogues, packaging, product photographs or other records explaining which branded product the code represents.
Where packaging changed, keep dated examples and identify the periods concerned. Distinguish a revised presentation from a different brand.
Avoid relying on a photograph whose product, date or source cannot be explained. Keep annotations in separate working copies so the original evidence remains identifiable.
Preserve the agreement or other records explaining the distributor’s authority to use the mark.
Identify the parties, products, relevant dates and territory. Reconcile different company names across the agreement, invoices and payment records.
If a business relationship ended or ownership changed, explain the chronology.
A distributor’s statement that it handled the brand can provide a lead. Supporting commercial documents make that account easier to assess.
Article 166 assesses use in its commercial context, while Article 167 places the burden of proving use on the registration owner. Article 165 also addresses partial cancellation.
Prepare a working table connecting each registered product or service with the available records. Identify unsupported items and ask counsel how product identity or similarity affects the analysis.
Evidence for one product should not simply be presented as proof covering an entire unrelated catalogue.
Agree who will handle the proceeding, calculate deadlines and approve submissions.
Colombian procedural materials distinguish representation, authority documents and notification arrangements. Confirm the requirements for the actual action rather than assuming that the original filing route answers every later procedural question.
The government compilation of SIC’s Circular Única includes relevant representation provisions.
Keep headquarters, the portfolio manager and local counsel working from the same complete record. Record filing acknowledgements and delivery confirmations once submissions are made.
For initial application planning, see our Colombia trademark filing guide.
Arrange regular access to regional distributor records.
Assign responsibility for retaining product images, transaction documents and authorization materials. Review the file when branding, ownership or distribution changes.
A planned launch and a completed sale should remain distinguishable. Preserve evidence of obstacles to use separately for legal assessment rather than assuming that any commercial delay provides a sufficient justification.
No. The applicable grounds and cancellation procedure require assessment.
Yes, where it satisfies the applicable conditions.
No. Its product, territory, timing and commercial context matter.
Yes. Preserve both authorization and transaction evidence.
No. Review the registered specification against the evidence.
Prepare the registration record, cancellation notice, distributor agreements and available use evidence before requesting assistance.
Explore IPcrossark’s trademark services for portfolio-related enquiries. An active Colombian cancellation proceeding should be assessed with an appropriately qualified local adviser.
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