Industrial design registration in Latin America: no Hague

Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru are not members of the Hague System, so an international design registration filed through WIPO does not reach them: industrial design registration in these Latin American markets has to go through each national office. The practical rule is to file there within six months of your first design application, so you can claim Paris Convention priority. This guide is for European, Mexican and Brazilian companies that already protect designs in the EU or through Hague and want the same products covered in the Southern Cone and the Andean region.

Key takeaways

WIPO’s list of Hague contracting parties does not include Argentina, Chile, Colombia or Peru; Mexico and Brazil are members, and El Salvador joins on 7 October 2026.
All four countries recognise a six-month priority period for designs, counted from your first filing anywhere in the Paris Union.
Terms differ: Argentina gives 5 years renewable twice (15 in total), Chile 15 years non-renewable, Colombia and Peru 10 years non-renewable under Andean Decision 486.
Grace periods for your own prior disclosure also differ: six months in Argentina and one year under Decision 486, compared with 12 months in the EU.
Animated or 3D representations accepted by the EUIPO may not be accepted by these offices, so prepare drawings that work everywhere.

Where does the Hague System reach in Latin America?

The Hague System lets you protect designs in many countries with one international application filed with WIPO (the World Intellectual Property Organization). It only works where the country is a contracting party. According to WIPO Lex, the Latin American and Caribbean members are:

Country	In Hague since
Mexico	6 June 2020
Brazil	1 August 2023
Jamaica	10 February 2022
Saint Kitts and Nevis	8 October 2024
Belize	12 July 2003
El Salvador	From 7 October 2026 (accession deposited on 7 July 2026)
Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay	Not members: national filing only

So a company that files an EU design and a Hague application designating Mexico and Brazil still has a gap in four of the region’s largest markets. The only way to close it is a national application in each country.

How do the national routes compare?

	Argentina	Chile	Colombia	Peru
Office	INPI	INAPI	SIC	Indecopi
Legal basis	Decree-Law 6673/63, updated by Law 27,444	Law 19,039	Andean Decision 486	Andean Decision 486
Term	5 years from filing, renewable for two further 5-year periods	15 years from filing, not renewable	10 years from filing, not renewable	10 years from filing, not renewable
Priority	6 months	6 months	6 months	6 months
Grace for own disclosure	6 months	Check case by case	1 year	1 year
Examination	Formal only, no substantive search	Novelty requirement: must differ significantly from known designs	Formal; novelty examined on opposition or if manifestly lacking	Same as Colombia

Argentina

The INPI grants protection for five years from filing, renewable for two consecutive periods of the same length; after that, the design falls into the public domain. According to its FAQ, renewal can be requested in the six months before expiry or up to six months after with a surcharge, there is no substantive examination (disputes go to the federal courts), and processing takes three working days once payment is credited. A multiple application can include up to 20 designs in the same Locarno class. Disclosures by the author in the six months before filing or priority do not destroy novelty.

Chile

The INAPI registers industrial designs (three-dimensional) and industrial drawings (two-dimensional) under Law 19,039. Registration lasts 15 years from filing and cannot be renewed. The design must differ significantly from known designs or combinations of their features. A practical point often missed: registered designs must bear the words “Diseño Industrial” or “Dibujo Industrial”, or the initials “D.I.”, with the registration number. Omitting the marking does not invalidate the registration, but it prevents the holder from bringing the criminal actions provided in the law.

Colombia and Peru

Both apply the Andean Community’s common regime, Decision 486. Its key rules for designs:

Novelty is absolute: a design is not new if it was made accessible to the public anywhere before the filing or priority date (Article 115). Article 133 applies to designs the one-year grace period of Article 17 for disclosures by the creator.
The office checks formal requirements within 15 days, and the applicant has 30 days, extendable once, to correct deficiencies (Article 120).
The application is published and third parties with a legitimate interest have 30 days to oppose, extendable by 30 days to substantiate (Article 122).
The office does not examine novelty of its own motion unless there is an opposition, although it may refuse a design that manifestly lacks novelty (Article 124).
Registration lasts 10 years from filing (Article 128), and Colombia’s SIC confirms that it is not renewable. The SIC asks for seven drawings: six views and a perspective.

How to plan the six-month priority window

The priority right comes from the Paris Convention and is confirmed in each system: Article 9 of Decision 486 sets six months for designs, and INPI and INAPI state the same. Six months passes quickly when four offices, four sets of drawing rules and local agents are involved.

Month 0: first filing, usually an EU design at the EUIPO, a Spanish design at the OEPM, or a national design in Mexico or Brazil.
Month 1: confirm which products will be sold in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru, and adapt the drawings to each office’s format.
Months 2 to 4: obtain powers of attorney and certified priority documents and instruct local correspondents.
Month 5: file the national applications, leaving a margin before the deadline.
Afterwards: diary Argentina’s renewals at 5 and 10 years and Chile’s marking obligation.

If your first filing is an EU design represented by a video or a 3D file, remember the EUIPO’s warning that jurisdictions outside the EU may not recognise dynamic or animated designs for priority purposes. Static views are the safer basis when Latin America is part of the plan.

What this means for your business

Treat Hague as one tool among several: it covers Mexico and Brazil, but not the rest of the Southern Cone or the Andean countries.
Choose the first filing with the whole map in mind, including the format of the drawings.
Budget for the full life of each right: three five-year periods in Argentina against a single term in Chile, Colombia and Peru.
Control disclosure: a launch at a trade fair can be covered by the grace period in one country and not in another.

If you want the EU, Hague and national filings run as one plan, our team for industrial design registration in Europe and Latin America can coordinate them from a single point of contact.

Where companies get Latin American design filings wrong

Assuming the Hague registration covers the whole region. It does not reach Argentina, Chile, Colombia or Peru.
Missing the six-month priority deadline. After it, earlier publications, including your own EU registration, count against the national application, subject to the local grace period.
Reusing EU representations without adapting them, which leads to formal objections or to a scope that does not match the EU registration.
Forgetting the renewal in Argentina at year five, or the “D.I.” marking in Chile.
Filing through different local agents with no central docket, so deadlines and ownership details drift apart. Our cross-border IP strategy team keeps one calendar for the whole portfolio.

Frequently asked questions

Can I designate Argentina, Chile, Colombia or Peru in a Hague application?

No. None of the four is a contracting party to the Hague Agreement according to WIPO Lex, so they cannot be designated in an international application. Protection requires a national application filed with INPI (Argentina), INAPI (Chile), the SIC (Colombia) or Indecopi (Peru), ideally within six months of your first filing to claim priority.

How long does design protection last in these countries?

In Argentina, five years from filing, renewable for two further five-year periods, for 15 years in total. In Chile, 15 years from filing, not renewable. In Colombia and Peru, 10 years from filing under Andean Decision 486, not renewable. In the EU, a registered design can last up to 25 years.

I showed my product at a trade fair. Can I still file in Latin America?

Possibly, but the deadlines differ. Argentina disregards disclosures by the author in the six months before filing or priority. Decision 486, applied in Colombia and Peru, gives one year. Check Chile case by case. Claiming priority from an earlier filing protects you against disclosures made after that filing date.

Can IP Global Guard file our designs in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru?

Yes. We plan the first filing, adapt the drawings, and coordinate qualified local correspondents before INPI, INAPI, the SIC and Indecopi, together with EU and Hague filings, under one strategy, one point of contact and one billing relationship.

How IP Global Guard coordinates your designs across Latin America

Protecting a product range in Latin America means combining Hague, where it reaches, with national filings where it does not, all within the same six-month window. IP Global Guard, the intellectual property services line of META Channel Corporation Limited, coordinates design portfolios across more than 25 jurisdictions in Europe, Latin America and Africa. For clients that also need the United States, a Hague contracting party since 2015, we extend the plan through Hague and coordinated local correspondents.

Send us the designs, the date of your first filing and the countries where you will sell. We will map the Hague and national routes, the deadlines and the drawing requirements, and coordinate every filing from one place. Ask our design team for a filing plan.

This article is general information, not legal advice, and reflects the position on its publication date.

Designs in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru: national routes, no Hague

Key takeaways

Where does the Hague System reach in Latin America?