Colombia Trademark
Registration Timeline

SIC process from search to certificate — with every deadline that matters

10–24 months total 7 process stages SIC · Andean Community

Select your scenario

Estimated total timeline

10–12 months

Standard path — no deficiencies or oppositions

7 stages SIC — no issues

Official timelines — subject to SIC workload. The stages and durations shown reflect current SIC procedures as established by the applicable regulations. Actual processing times depend entirely on the SIC's operational capacity and may be extended due to increased filing volumes, administrative backlog, or procedural requirements specific to each application. InLecta cannot guarantee or influence SIC processing speeds. These estimates are provided for planning purposes only.

Registration Stages

Click any stage to expand details, key documents, and InLecta's role

Common Causes of Delay

Why timelines stretch — and how InLecta keeps your matters on track

Incomplete Power of Attorney

Adds 2–4 months

SIC's formal examination rejects applications with POAs that lack proper notarization, incorrect apostille chain, or missing grantor authority. The 2-month response window starts immediately.

✓ InLecta sends a pre-filing POA checklist with every engagement, ensuring first-time compliance.

No Pre-filing Search

Adds 3–6 months + wasted fees

Filing without a clearance search risks substantive refusal on relative grounds. SIC examiners routinely cite prior marks that a basic database search would have revealed, forcing a provisional refusal response or abandonment.

✓ InLecta includes a free preliminary search with every filing quote. No surprises at examination.

Unmonitored Oppositions

Adds 6–12 months if undefended

Gazette publications are only in Spanish. International firms with no Colombia monitoring miss opposition filings, and the default 2-month response window expires without a defense — resulting in automatic abandonment.

✓ InLecta monitors all active matters through gazette publication and provides immediate English-language alerts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Missed SIC deadlines in the trademark process are almost always fatal. A failure to respond to a requerimiento formal or a provisional refusal within the statutory 2-month window results in the application being declared abandoned (desistida). There is no reinstatement mechanism under Colombian administrative law — the application is permanently closed and all filing fees are forfeited. A new application must be filed with a fresh priority date. InLecta uses a professional IP docketing system to track every deadline across all active matters, with multiple advance alerts at 30, 14, and 5 days before any response is due.
No. Under Colombian law and SIC regulations, foreign applicants — whether individuals or legal entities — must be represented by a Colombian registered attorney (abogado with tarjeta profesional) for all proceedings before the SIC. The requirement applies to initial filing, responses to formal notices, provisional refusals, and opposition proceedings. A Power of Attorney must be filed with the application authorizing the Colombian attorney to act. The POA must be signed by an authorized representative of the applicant and, depending on the country of origin, may require apostille certification. InLecta provides its POA template in English and Spanish, with clear execution instructions for each jurisdiction.
No. A Colombian trademark registration issued by SIC is valid only within the territory of Colombia. Although Colombia is a member of the Andean Community (CAN) and trademark law is harmonized through Decision 486 of 2000, each member state (Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador) maintains its own national register and issues independent national registrations. There is no community-wide trademark registration analogous to the European Union Trade Mark (EUTM) — a separate filing must be made in each Andean country where protection is sought. See our CAN Trademark Coverage Guide for a full breakdown of country-by-country timelines and fees.