Your U.S. Counterpart for Chilean Clients
Su contraparte en Estados Unidos para sus clientes chilenos.
Chile joined the Madrid Protocol in 2022, so designations of the United States through INAPI are new to many Chilean firms. We answer USPTO refusals of those designations as U.S. attorney of record, file directly when that serves the client better, and report to you in Spanish.
Trademark activity in Chile and at the USPTO
INAPI recorded 61,098 trademark class counts in 2024, up 30% from 2019. Chilean owners filed 1,493 U.S. applications from 2021 to 2025, 4% of them through Madrid.
Trademark filings at INAPI
Class count in applications filed at INAPI, direct and via Madrid, by applicant residence.
View data table
| Year | Total | Resident | Non-resident |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 46,949 | 32,915 | 14,034 |
| 2020 | 59,933 | 46,719 | 13,214 |
| 2021 | 69,115 | 53,520 | 15,595 |
| 2022 | 60,721 | 43,634 | 17,087 |
| 2023 | 64,168 | 46,503 | 17,665 |
| 2024 | 61,098 | 43,369 | 17,729 |
U.S. applications filed by Chilean owners
USPTO applications per filing year from owners with an address in Chile. The 2026 bar covers January through September.
View data table
| Filing year | Filed | Registered to date | Via Madrid |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 328 | 198 | 7 |
| 2022 | 316 | 170 | 6 |
| 2023 | 330 | 143 | 15 |
| 2024 | 274 | 123 | 12 |
| 2025 | 245 | 97 | 17 |
| 2026 (Jan.–Sept.) | 157 | 15 | 1 |
Madrid traffic between Chile and the U.S.
Designations recorded by WIPO each year: Chilean holders designating the United States, and U.S. holders designating Chile.
From 2022 to 2025, U.S. holders designated Chile about 57 times as often as Chilean holders designated the United States.
View data table
| Year | U.S. designated by Chilean holders | Chile designated by U.S. holders | All designations of Chile | International applications filed through INAPI | Provisional refusals issued by INAPI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2021 | 3 | – | – | – | – |
| 2022 | 7 | 509 | 2,018 | 14 | – |
| 2023 | 19 | 1,010 | 5,219 | 47 | 720 |
| 2024 | 17 | 996 | 5,752 | 26 | 2,172 |
| 2025 | 18 | 978 | 5,854 | 41 | 1,756 |
Madrid designations received by INAPI
All designations of Chile in international applications and subsequent designations, from every origin.
In 2025, U.S. holders made 17% of the 5,854 designations of Chile. INAPI issued 1,756 provisional refusals that year.
How we counted. National-office figures are class counts (applications multiplied by the classes they name) from the WIPO IP Statistics Data Center, May 2026 update, covering direct and Madrid filings. Madrid figures are WIPO counts by date of receipt at the International Bureau through 2025. USPTO figures count applications by filing date where an owner's address is in Chile, from USPTO records retrieved October 27, 2026.
The U.S.-attorney rule for Chilean clients
Since August 3, 2019, applicants and registrants domiciled in Chile must be represented before the USPTO by an attorney licensed in a U.S. state. A designation of the United States filed through INAPI reaches the USPTO without one, but any provisional refusal must be answered by a U.S. attorney.
Chile's Madrid membership took effect on July 4, 2022. Since then, INAPI has received thousands of designations a year and has begun issuing its own provisional refusals, while Chilean firms are still learning the U.S. side.
What this means for your firm
- You keep the client relationship and the strategy
- We are attorney of record and correspondence address at the USPTO
- Every USPTO notice comes to you with our recommendation
- We send U.S.-originated work in Chile back to you
What we handle for your Chilean clients
The full U.S. life of a mark, from the first filing to enforcement, under your instructions.
Direct U.S. filings
Use, intent-to-use, Section 44(e) home-registration, and Section 44(d) priority applications.
Madrid refusals
Responses to USPTO provisional refusals of designations of the United States.
Office actions
Arguments and amendments on likelihood of confusion, descriptiveness, specimens, and identification.
TTAB matters
Oppositions, cancellations, ex parte appeals, letters of protest, and expungement or reexamination petitions.
Maintenance
Section 8 and Section 71 declarations, Section 15 affidavits, Section 9 renewals, and docketing every U.S. deadline.
Recordals
Assignments, mergers, and name changes recorded with the USPTO Assignment Recordation Branch.
Enforcement
Cease-and-desist letters, U.S. Customs recordation, Amazon Brand Registry, and coordination with litigation counsel.
Built for the instructing firm
- Conflict checkWe clear conflicts before any substantive work, usually within one business day.
- Associate agreementA short written agreement sets reporting, billing, and client-contact rules.
- InstructionsBy email, in Spanish or English. We confirm receipt and the deadline the same day.
- ReportingWe report to your firm, not to your client, unless you ask us to copy the client.
- FeesFixed fees for standard actions, invoiced in U.S. dollars with wire instructions; government fees at cost.
Where U.S. filings from Chile go wrong
The issues we see most often in U.S. matters sent by Chilean firms, and how we deal with each.
First U.S. designations
Many Chilean firms are filing their first designations of the United States and receive refusals they have not seen before, such as identification and specimen requirements.
We explain each refusal and propose a response the instructing firm can approve.
INAPI wording
Specifications accepted by INAPI are often too broad for the USPTO.
We provide U.S. wording before the international application is filed.
Madrid by default
Some owners now designate the U.S. on every filing. For a U.S.-first launch, a direct filing avoids five years of dependence on the Chilean basic filing.
We compare the two routes for each brand.
Wine, valleys, and pisco
Grape varieties, valleys such as Maipo or Colchagua, and pisco are descriptive or protected terms in the U.S.
We clear the client's distinctive name first.
Customs recordation
Chilean food and wine brands rarely record their U.S. registrations with CBP, so copies are not stopped at the border.
We record each registration once it issues.
Work flows both ways
U.S. holders have designated Chile in about 1,000 Madrid filings a year since 2023, and INAPI issued 1,756 provisional refusals in 2025. We send Chilean prosecution work to the firms that send us U.S. matters.
We do not practice Chilean law. When a U.S. client needs protection in Chile, the matter goes to Chilean counsel, and we report the result to our client.
What to send with an instruction
- Client name, entity type, and country of organization
- Full address of domicile (street address, not a P.O. box)
- The mark as filed at home, with any color claim and translation
- Home filing or registration number and date (for priority or Section 44(e))
- Goods and services, ideally already in U.S. ID Manual wording
- U.S. use dates and a specimen, if the client already sells in the U.S.
- For Madrid refusals: the WIPO notification and the USPTO refusal
- The response or filing deadline you are working to
Frequently asked questions
Do you answer USPTO refusals of designations filed through INAPI?
Yes. We review the provisional refusal, recommend a response, and file it as U.S. attorney of record.
How long does our client have to respond to a U.S. provisional refusal?
Six months from the date the USPTO issues the refusal. The three-month response period the USPTO adopted in 2022 does not apply to Madrid designations. We docket the deadline as soon as you send the refusal.
How are your fees structured for associate work?
Standard actions, such as a new application, a response to a routine refusal, or a Section 71 declaration, carry fixed professional fees, listed in our associate fee schedule. Contested work is billed by the hour or on a quoted budget. Government fees are passed through at cost, and invoices are in U.S. dollars.
How quickly do you act on an instruction?
We confirm receipt and the deadline the same business day and clear conflicts before substantive work. For urgent deadlines, tell us the date in your first email.
Do you report in Spanish?
Yes. Our attorneys work in Spanish and English.
Will you contact our client directly?
No, unless you ask us to. We report to you and copy the client only on your instruction.
Request our associate fee schedule
Our schedule lists fixed fees for the U.S. actions Chilean firms send most often, with our instruction checklist and a short guide to the most common USPTO refusals of filings from abroad.
- Direct USPTO applications
- Madrid provisional refusals
- TTAB oppositions and cancellations
- Section 8 and Section 71 declarations