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In Official Bulletin N° 555, dated March 23, 2015, in vigor since April 6, 2015, the Venezuelan Patent & Trademark Office (VPTO), issued an Office Notice notifying the minimun documents to be file a patent application.

The above-mentioned Office Notice was published in order to clarify the Office Noticed issued in Official Bulletin N° 515, dated October 01, 2010, which sets as mandatory that the following documents: Power of Attorney, Declaration of Inventorship with Assignment and Priority Document, must be filed along with the application.

In view of the new Office Notice now in force, a patent application can be filed without the following documents:

1. Power of Attorney duly notarized and legalized up to the Venezuelan Consulate in your country or legalized by Apostille;

2. Certified Copy of Inventors Assignment or Declaration of Inventorship with Assignment, duly notarized and legalized up to the Venezuelan Consulate in your country or legalized by Apostille; and

3. Certified Copy of the Priority Document duly notarized and legalized up to the Venezuelan Consulate in your country or legalized by Apostille, if  priority claimed.

The timing to file these documents is:

(a) Power of Attorney and Declaration of Inventorship with Assignment, notarized and legalized by Apostilla or up to the Venezuelan Consulate: These documents must be filed by the latest in response to the official action, which may be issued between 4 to 6 months upon the filing of the application.  Once issued the Official Action, a thirty (30) working day period NOT extendible.

(b) Priority Document duly legalized by Apostilla or up to the Venezuelan Consulate: According to the Paris Convention, such document(s) should be filed within three (3) months as from the application date in Venezuela.