How to Register a Trademark in Colombia (SIC): Steps, Deadlines and What Changes in 2027

To register a trademark in Colombia, you file an application with the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce (SIC), online through its Virtual Office (SIPI). One application can cover 1 to 45 Nice classes. The SIC checks formalities within 15 business days, publishes the application in the Industrial Property Gazette before the substantive examination, allows 30 business days for oppositions and, if it grants the mark, the registration lasts 10 years and can be renewed. You do not need a lawyer to file, and the SIC does not publish an official total processing time. If you would rather have us handle it, you can register your trademark in Colombia with Protect.TM.

Checked on 2 November 2026 against Andean Community Decision 486, the SIC’s Single Circular (Title X), SIC Resolution 82923 of 19 October 2026, the SIC’s official pages on the procedure and the accelerated examination, Preliminary Ruling 76-IP-2020 of the Court of Justice of the Andean Community and WIPO’s list of Madrid Union members. Each row names its source. SIC fees change every year, so this page does not publish them.

Trademark registration in Colombia in 6 points

1. Where: at the SIC, Colombia’s national industrial property office. You file online through SIPI, paying through PSE, or on paper at the SIC and at chambers of commerce that have an agreement with it.
2. Who: any individual or company. No lawyer is required to file; a company files through its legal representative.
3. Classes: since 13 April 2012, a multi-class application covers 2 to 45 classes with one file, one term and one certificate.
4. Order of the procedure: formal examination, publication in the Gazette, 30 business days for oppositions, substantive examination and decision. Publication comes before the substantive examination.
5. How long it takes: the SIC does not publish an average. What the rules do fix are the deadlines of each stage (table below).
6. After registration: 10 years from the grant; renewal without proof of use; cancellation at a third party’s request if the mark goes unused for 3 consecutive years in every Andean Community country.

The steps at the SIC, one by one

1. Search for earlier marks. The SIC recommends checking first for identical or similar marks covering the same goods or services, because the examination can refuse yours over an earlier one. Its official prior-mark search (antecedentes marcarios) is optional, has its own fee and its result does not bind the SIC. You can also search your trademark in Colombia with us.
2. Classify. Goods and services are classified under the Nice Classification. The SIC points applicants to WIPO’s Madrid Goods and Services Manager (MGS) to find the wording.
3. File the application. In SIPI, with the applicant’s name and domicile, an address for notifications, the type of sign, the classes and the goods or services. A figurative or combined mark needs a label image. The fee is paid at filing.
4. Formal examination. The SIC carries it out within 15 business days. If something is missing, it sends a requirement by email.
5. Publication and oppositions. If the formalities are in order, the application is published in the Industrial Property Gazette and stays open to oppositions for 30 business days.
6. Substantive examination. Without opposition, the status changes to “Under substantive examination”; with one, to “With opposition”. The SIC examines whether the mark can be registered.
7. Decision and certificate. The SIC grants or refuses with a reasoned resolution that also rules on any oppositions. The right is secured once the resolution becomes final and a certificate number is assigned.

The deadlines the rules set

Decision 486 and the SIC set a deadline for almost every stage, except the substantive examination. The table shows each deadline and what happens if it is missed.

Stage	Deadline	If it is missed	Source
Formal examination	15 business days from filing	It is the SIC’s deadline; it does not affect the applicant	SIC, stages of the procedure; Decision 486, art. 144
Answering a formal requirement	60 business days from notification by email	The application is deemed abandoned (in a multi-class application, only for the affected classes)	SIC, during the procedure
Third-party opposition	30 business days from publication in the Gazette; 30 more days, once, only for evidence	No opposition can be filed any more	SIC; Decision 486, art. 146
Answering an opposition	30 business days from notification, plus 30 for evidence	The SIC decides without the applicant’s defence (answering is optional)	SIC; Decision 486, art. 148
Substantive examination and decision	No deadline set in the rules	—	Decision 486
Appeal	10 days from notification of the resolution, which is deemed made 1 month after the email is sent	The resolution becomes final	SIC, during the procedure
Priority from a foreign application	6 months from the first filing, not extendable	The earlier date is lost	Decision 486, art. 9

How long does it take in total?

The SIC does not publish an average registration time. Its 2024-2025 accountability report counts more than 65,000 classes decided in 2025 and lists “reducing decision times for distinctive signs” as a challenge, but gives no figure. Colombian law firms publish estimates of 6 to 14 months, longer with an opposition or appeal; these are their own estimates, not SIC data.

What lengthens a file is known: a formal requirement (up to 60 more business days), an opposition (30 more days for the opponent’s evidence and another 30 plus 30 for the answer and its evidence) and an appeal. What shortens it is a clean application and, if it qualifies, the accelerated formal examination.

The accelerated formal examination: who can use it

The SIC offers an Accelerated Examination of Formal Requirements that shortens the time between filing and publication in the Gazette and, with it, the whole procedure. It costs no extra fee and is chosen at filing. The SIC does not publish how many days it takes.

Condition	What the SIC requires
Type of sign	Only word, figurative or combined marks and slogans. Three-dimensional, colour, sound, texture and other non-traditional marks are excluded, as are collective and certification marks
Channel	Only through the Virtual Office; it cannot be requested in a paper application
Goods and services	Only the SIC’s pre-approved list, with no editing of the wording. If the coverage is not in the MGS, the conventional filing route applies
Discounts	Cannot be combined with the discounts for the Intellectual Property Classroom, guidance from CIGEPI or the CATI centres, certified artisans or small producers in the IDB/FOMIN project
Fee	The same as a normal application
Risk	The application can go back to formal examination if the SIC finds defects, for example words marked as descriptive that are not, or a label that does not match the mark’s name

If the owner lives outside Colombia

• Representative: under the SIC’s Single Circular, an applicant who does not reside in Colombia “may” appoint a representative empowered to receive notifications and appoint attorneys. The rules do not require a domicile in Colombia.
• Attorney: if you act through an attorney, they must be a registered lawyer.
• Power of attorney: a private document, with no personal appearance, notarisation or legalisation. It can cover one application or all of the owner’s present and future ones.
• Language: the application is in Spanish; documents in other languages need a simple translation.
• Notifications: they arrive by email and deadlines run from them, so you need someone who reads them on time, in Spanish.
• Madrid: Colombia has been party to the Madrid Protocol since 29 August 2012, so you can also designate it in an international registration.

In practice, a local attorney is the prudent choice for a foreign owner: requirements and oppositions have short deadlines, and the SIC itself suggests getting expert help to answer an opposition.

From 1 January 2027: hologram marks

SIC Resolution 82923 of 19 October 2026 adds paragraph 1.2.5.20, “Hologram marks”, to the Single Circular, and applies from 1 January 2027. The SIC put it to public consultation between 25 August and 9 September 2026. Anyone applying for a hologram mark will have to provide:

• an animated reproduction without sound, in MP4 format and no larger than 50 MB, showing the full holographic effect;
• a graphic or photographic reproduction with the views, images or sequences needed to identify the effect and its variations;
• a clear, precise and complete description of the sign and of the visual variations that make it up.

The files can only be filed through SIPI. The resolution defines a hologram mark as a non-traditional mark of a visual nature, and the SIC excludes non-traditional marks from the accelerated examination, so these applications will follow the conventional route.

Opposition, Andean opposition and appeal

Anyone with a legitimate interest can oppose during the 30 business days of publication. The opposition must state which goods, services and classes it targets, and the applicant can divide the application so that the unopposed part moves ahead separately.

Decision 486 also allows an Andean opposition: the owner of a mark, or whoever applied for it first, in another Andean Community country (Bolivia, Ecuador or Peru) can oppose in Colombia. But they must prove a real interest in the Colombian market by applying to register their mark in Colombia when they file the opposition. According to the Court of Justice of the Andean Community (76-IP-2020), if they do not, the opposition is rejected.

A resolution that refuses registration, or that dismisses an opposition, can be appealed within 10 days of notification. Because notification is deemed made one month after the email is sent, the real deadline only starts then. If the SIC refuses the mark, the fee paid is not refunded.

After registration: renewal and use

Topic	Rule	Source
Term	10 years from the grant, renewable for 10-year periods	Decision 486, art. 152
When to renew	In the 6 months before expiry, with a 6-month grace period afterwards	Decision 486, art. 153
Proof of use at renewal	Not required	Decision 486, art. 153
Cancellation for non-use	At a third party’s request, if the mark was not used for 3 consecutive years in at least one Andean Community country; can be partial	Decision 486, arts. 165-166
When it can be requested	Not before 3 years from notification of the resolution that ended the registration procedure	Decision 486, art. 165
® or ™ symbol	Not mandatory in Colombia	SIC, before filing

To keep the date under control, you can renew your trademark in Colombia with us.

Checklist before filing

• Search for identical or similar marks in the classes you need.
• Word your goods and services with the MGS wording if you want the accelerated examination.
• Prepare the label if the mark is figurative or combined; the name on the label must match the mark’s name.
• If you live outside Colombia, sign a simple power of attorney in favour of a registered lawyer.
• If you filed the mark in another country less than 6 months ago, claim priority.
• Decide who will read the SIC’s emails: the 60 days for a requirement and the 30 for an opposition run from them.

How we can help

We start with a Comprehensive Trademark Study, delivered within one business day, that rates graphic, phonetic and conceptual conflicts as low, medium or high risk. Then we file the application through local attorneys, with the official filing fees included. We can file first and receive the simple power of attorney later. Oppositions and responses to SIC requirements are quoted separately. To get started, register your trademark in Colombia or see our trademark registration pages for South America. If you also sell in neighbouring countries, see our guides for Chile, Argentina and Mexico.

Sources: Andean Community Decision 486; SIC, Single Circular, Title X; SIC, Resolution 82923 of 19 October 2026; SIC, Accelerated Examination of Formal Requirements; SIC, During the trademark procedure; SIC, 2024-2025 Accountability Report; Court of Justice of the Andean Community, Preliminary Ruling 76-IP-2020; WIPO, Madrid Union members as of 8 July 2026.