On December 29, 2021, the first administrative resolutions were published in the Trademark Bulletin, where the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI, after its name in Spanish) decided substantive issues related to the invalidity of trademark registrations. The 2018 legal reform had entrusted the INPI with the cancellation of trademark registrations (invalidity and lapsing due to non-use), with an appeal to the Federal Courts (section 24, law No. 22,362, as amended in 2018), and in 2019 the corresponding rules for the administrative procedure were issued (INPI Regulation No. 279/2019). Previously, these matters had to be taken directly to the Federal Courts.
The first administrative decision, issued on December 16, 2021, declared the invalidity of trademark “KIMCHI” registered under Nos. 3,067,332 and 3,067,334 in classes 35 and 29, respectively, for being indicative, descriptive or generic, given that kimchi is a traditional dish of the Korean cuisine; the request for cancellation had been made by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Argentina.
Another decision, issued on the same date, involved the renewal of the trademark “NACIONAL EXPRESO” No. 2,268,022 under Serial No. 3,773,900. Here an American firm had requested that...
