In Colombia a trademark license is recorded with the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce (SIC), the national trademark office, not with customs, and a license that has not been recorded has no effect against third parties.
Trademark license recordal in Colombia: key facts
| Key fact | Rule in Colombia | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Where the license is recorded | With the SIC, the competent national office. The customs rules on border measures do not provide for recording license agreements | Article 162 of Decision 486; Title 17 of Decree 1165 of 2019 |
| If it is not recorded | The license has no effect against third parties | Article 162 of Decision 486 |
| Form | In writing. When the recordal request is signed by both parties, the SIC asks for no separate written license | Article 162 of Decision 486; SIC Circular Única, Title X, item 1.2.1.6.3 |
| Who can file | Any interested person, so the licensee can file as well as the owner | Article 162 of Decision 486 |
| Marks still under application | They can be licensed, and the license recorded, before registration | Article 162 of Decision 486; item 1.1.2.2.6 of SIC Resolution 6167 of 2026 |
| Madrid international registrations | A license recorded in WIPO’s International Register has no effect in Colombia; it must be recorded directly with the SIC | Rule 20bis(6)(b) of the Common Regulations; WIPO Information Notice No. 22/2012, in force since August 29, 2012 |
| Several marks, same parties | One request can cover several rights of the same type when licensor and licensee are the same | Circular Única, Title X, item 1.2.1.6.3 |
| Documents in another language | A simple Spanish translation, with no authentication, attestation, legalization or apostille | Circular Única, Title X, item 1.2.1.1 |
| Power of attorney | A private document, with no personal appearance, authentication or legalization; the attorney must be a duly registered lawyer | Circular Única, Title X, item 1.2.1.3 |
| SIC fee in 2026, registered mark | COP 538,000 when filed online, about USD 169 | Item 1.1.2.3.21 of Resolution 6167 of 2026 |
| SIC fee in 2026, pending application | COP 217,500 when filed online, about USD 68 | Item 1.1.2.2.6 of Resolution 6167 of 2026 |
| Licenses the SIC will not record | Those that do not comply with the Andean regime on foreign capital, trademarks, patents, licenses and royalties, or with the rules on practices that restrict free competition | Article 163 of Decision 486 |
| Customs (DIAN) | Applies border measures against goods bearing a false mark, and may keep a directory of right holders that can name the importer they authorize | Articles 712, 723 and 724 of Decree 1165 of 2019 |
| Use by the licensee | Counts against cancellation for non-use, and so do exports from any Andean Community country | Articles 165 and 166 of Decision 486 |
Recording a license with the SIC in six steps
- Put the license in writing, or have licensor and licensee both sign the SIC request, which the SIC accepts without a separate written license (Article 162 of Decision 486 and item 1.2.1.6.3 of the Circular Única).
- Check the register: the number of each mark, its goods or services and the owner’s name and address as they appear. If the owner’s name or address has changed, record that change too, because notices sent to the recorded data are valid (Article 164).
- If the mark reached Colombia through the Madrid Protocol, file with the SIC and not with WIPO: Colombia declared under Rule 20bis(6)(b) that licenses recorded in the International Register have no effect there.
- Pay the official fee before filing and attach the receipt: COP 538,000 online for a registered mark, or COP 217,500 for a pending application (items 1.1.2.3.21, 1.1.2.2.6 and 1.1.7 of Resolution 6167 of 2026).
- File online through the SIPI, the SIC’s industrial property system, or on paper with form PI01-F09, adding a simple Spanish translation of any document in another language and, if a lawyer files, a power of attorney in a private document (items 1.2.1.1, 1.2.1.2 and 1.2.1.3).
- When the license ends, ask the SIC to remove the recordal, which Resolution 6167 lists as «Desanotación de licencias» (COP 567,500 online, item 1.1.4.3).
Each point is explained below with the official text: filing, documents and fees at the SIC, licenses on Madrid international registrations and what customs (DIAN) does with trademarks.
This guide, prepared by ADALET LEGAL S.A.S., a Colombian law firm, is written for brand owners and for the intellectual property agencies that act for them abroad, for example in China, when a mark protected in Colombia, directly or through the Madrid Protocol, is licensed to a Colombian importer, distributor or franchisee. The questions are three: where the license is recorded, whether customs must also be involved, and which documents and fees the recording takes. How we work with agencies is explained in Colombia trademark agent for foreign IP firms, and how a Chinese mark reaches the Colombian register in registering a Chinese trademark in Colombia.
Trademarks, patents, software and know-how are not only protected: they are also exploited through others. A license lets a third party use your brand or technology in exchange for royalties without you losing ownership, and a franchise takes that logic to a complete business model. Foreign brand owners entering Colombia through a local partner, distributor or franchisee need contracts that work under Colombian law and are recorded where the law requires it. We are trademark licensing and franchise attorneys in Colombia: we draft and negotiate trademark, patent, software and franchise agreements and record them before the SIC.
What Decision 486 says about trademark licenses
Colombia applies Decision 486 of the Andean Community, the common industrial property regime of the Andean countries, which has no official English version: quotations are reproduced in Spanish from the official text, followed in brackets by an unofficial English translation. Article 162 reads: «El titular de una marca registrada o en trámite de registro podrá dar licencia a uno o más terceros para la explotación de la marca respectiva. Deberá registrarse ante la oficina nacional competente toda licencia de uso de la marca. La falta de registro ocasionará que la licencia no surta efectos frente a terceros. A efectos del registro, la licencia deberá constar por escrito. Cualquier persona interesada podrá solicitar el registro de una licencia.» [The owner of a registered mark, or of one in the process of registration, may license one or more third parties to exploit that mark. Every license to use the mark must be registered with the competent national office. Failure to register means that the license has no effect against third parties. For registration purposes, the license must be in writing. Any interested person may request the registration of a license.]
Three rules follow. A mark still under application can be licensed. The licensee does not depend on the owner to record the license: as an interested person, it can file the request itself. And recordal is what makes the license effective against third parties; between licensor and licensee, their contract governs.
Article 163 limits what the office will record: «La autoridad nacional competente no registrará los contratos de licencia o transferencia de registro de marcas que no se ajusten a las disposiciones del Régimen Común de Tratamiento a los Capitales Extranjeros y sobre Marcas, Patentes, Licencias y Regalías, o a las disposiciones comunitarias y nacionales sobre prácticas comerciales restrictivas de la libre competencia.» [The competent national authority shall not register license or transfer contracts for trademark registrations that do not comply with the provisions of the Common Regime on the Treatment of Foreign Capital and on Trademarks, Patents, Licenses and Royalties, or with Community and national provisions on commercial practices that restrict free competition.]
Article 164 deals with the owner’s details while the license runs: «En caso exista algún cambio respecto al nombre o dirección del titular del registro de marca durante el plazo de vigencia de la licencia, el titular del registro deberá informarlo a la oficina nacional competente. En caso contrario, cualquier notificación realizada conforme a los datos que figuren en el registro, se reputará válida.» [If the name or address of the owner of the trademark registration changes during the term of the license, the owner must inform the competent national office. Otherwise, any notice made according to the data in the register shall be deemed valid.] An assignment follows a parallel rule: Article 161 requires every transfer of a trademark registration to be registered, gives an unregistered transfer no effect against third parties and adds that «la oficina nacional competente podrá denegar dicho registro, si la transferencia acarreara riesgo de confusión» [the competent national office may refuse that registration if the transfer would entail a risk of confusion].
How the SIC records a license: filing, documents and fees
The SIC’s Circular Única, Title X, item 1.2.1.6.3, provides that recording the licenses referred to in Decision 486, «en particular en los artículos 57, 85, 106, 133 y 162, se podrá realizar por medios electrónicos» [in particular in Articles 57, 85, 106, 133 and 162, may be done electronically], or on paper. On paper, the applicant must complete and file, after paying the official fee, «el Formulario de Licencia, Formato PI01-F09 (para signos distintivos)» [the License Form, Format PI01-F09 (for distinctive signs)]. Electronic filings go through the «Sistema de Información de Propiedad Industrial (SIPI)» [Industrial Property Information System], which item 1.2.1.2 names as the only channel for filing industrial property applications and documents electronically, other than petitions.
Two rules of the same item save paperwork. «Cuando el licenciante y el licenciatario de varios derechos de propiedad industrial sean las mismas partes, podrá presentarse una sola solicitud de inscripción, siempre que se trate del mismo tipo de derechos de propiedad industrial: Marca, lema, patente o diseño industrial.» [When the licensor and the licensee of several industrial property rights are the same parties, a single recordal request may be filed, provided the rights are of the same type: trademark, slogan, patent or industrial design.] And: «No se exigirá documento escrito adicional en donde conste la licencia cuando la solicitud de registro de la misma se encuentre firmada por las partes.» [No additional written document recording the license shall be required when the request to register it is signed by the parties.]
Documents prepared abroad need no apostille for the SIC. Item 1.2.1.2 provides that «Toda solicitud o documento se podrá presentar por medios físicos o electrónicos, sin necesidad de autenticación, atestación, legalización o cualquier otra certificación de firma u otro medio de identificación personal, salvo tratándose de renuncia al derecho que requerirá autenticación o firma digital.» [Any request or document may be filed on paper or electronically, without the need for authentication, attestation, legalization or any other certification of signature or other means of personal identification, except for a waiver of rights, which requires authentication or a digital signature.] Item 1.2.1.1 adds that «Los documentos en otro idioma deberán aportarse con su traducción simple sin necesidad de autenticación, atestación, legalización o apostilla.» [Documents in another language must be filed with a simple translation, without the need for authentication, attestation, legalization or apostille.] A license signed in China, in Chinese or in English, is therefore filed with a simple Spanish translation.
Under item 1.2.1.3, powers of attorney for industrial property procedures before the SIC «podrán otorgarse mediante documento privado» [may be granted by private document], «sin necesidad de presentación personal, autenticación o legalización» [without the need for personal appearance, authentication or legalization]. An owner that does not reside in Colombia «podrá nombrar un representante con facultades para notificarse y nombrar apoderados» [may appoint a representative with powers to receive notice and to appoint attorneys], and «El apoderado deberá ser abogado y estar debidamente inscrito.» [The attorney must be a lawyer and be duly registered.] The rules for powers signed abroad are also explained in power of attorney for Colombia.
| Recordal before the SIC | Online | On paper | Online, in dollars | Item of Resolution 6167 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| License on a registered mark | COP 538,000 | COP 655,000 | about USD 169 | 1.1.2.3.21 |
| License on a pending application | COP 217,500 | COP 265,000 | about USD 68 | 1.1.2.2.6 |
| Removal of a recorded license | COP 567,500 | COP 679,500 | about USD 178 | 1.1.4.3 |
| Change of the owner’s name, domicile or address | COP 73,500 | COP 79,500 | about USD 23 | 1.1.4.1 |
| Assignment of a registered mark, per registration | COP 486,000 | COP 589,500 | about USD 152 | 1.1.2.3.17 |
Resolution 6167 lists the two license fees under different headings: item 1.1.2.2.6 among the «Actuaciones en trámite de Signos Distintivos» [actions on pending distinctive signs] and item 1.1.2.3.21 among the «Actuaciones Posteriores a la Protección de Signos Distintivos» [actions after the protection of distinctive signs]. Under item 1.1.7, «A excepción de la presentación de cauciones, el valor de las tasas deberá ser cancelado previamente a la radicación de la solicitud respectiva a la cual se adjuntará el comprobante de pago.» [Except for the filing of bonds, fees must be paid before the respective request is filed, and the proof of payment is attached to it.] From January 1, 2027, Resolution 75972 of 2026 replaces these figures. The other fees for foreign applicants are listed in trademark registration in Colombia.
Licenses on Madrid international registrations: record them with the SIC, not at WIPO
Rule 20bis of the Common Regulations under the Madrid Protocol, in the version in force since November 1, 2025, lets the holder of an international registration ask WIPO to record a license in the International Register on the official form, which WIPO identifies as form MM13. Paragraph (6)(b) of the same rule allows a member to opt out: «The Office of a Contracting Party the law of which provides for the recording of trademark licenses may, before the date on which this Rule comes into force or the date on which the said Contracting Party becomes bound by the Protocol, notify the Director General that the recording of licenses in the International Register has no effect in that Contracting Party.»
Colombia made that notification. WIPO’s Information Notice No. 22/2012 explains the consequence: «Consequently, a license relating to an international registration of a mark which has been granted with respect to Colombia shall, in order to have effect in that country, be recorded in the national Register of the Office of Colombia. The formalities required for such recording must be completed directly with the Office of Colombia and according to the conditions laid down by the legislation of that country.» The notice adds that Colombia’s notification «entered into force on August 29, 2012».
WIPO’s own page on recording a license lists Colombia, and China as well, among the members that have declared under Rule 20bis(6)(b) that a license recorded in the International Register has no effect, and tells holders: «In these countries/regions, you must complete the required formalities for recording a trademark license directly with the national/regional IP Office, and in accordance with domestic laws.» For a Chinese owner whose mark is protected in Colombia through the Madrid Protocol, this means that a form MM13 filed with WIPO does not record the license for Colombia; the WIPO fee, 177 Swiss francs according to the same page, only buys effect in the designated members that give effect to recordals in the International Register. In Colombia the license follows the national procedure explained above. The choice between the two filing routes is compared in Madrid Protocol or national filing in Colombia.
Customs (DIAN): what it does with trademarks and what it does not record
Must the license also be lodged with customs? No. The license is recorded with the SIC: the rules on border measures in Title 17 of Decree 1165 of 2019, Colombia’s customs regime decree, which we read in the legal compilation published by the DIAN, the Unidad Administrativa Especial Dirección de Impuestos y Aduanas Nacionales, do not provide for recording license agreements. Customs comes in through border measures. Article 250 of Decision 486 reads: «El titular de un registro de marca, que tuviera motivos fundados para suponer que se va a realizar la importación o la exportación de productos que infringen ese registro, podrá solicitar a la autoridad nacional competente suspender esa operación aduanera. Son aplicables a esa solicitud y a la orden que dicte esa autoridad las condiciones y garantías que establezcan las normas internas del País Miembro.» [The owner of a trademark registration who has well-founded reasons to believe that products infringing that registration are about to be imported or exported may ask the competent national authority to suspend that customs operation. The conditions and guarantees established by the domestic rules of the Member Country apply to that request and to the order that authority issues.]
In Colombia those domestic rules are Title 17 of Decree 1165 of 2019, «MEDIDAS EN FRONTERA» [border measures]. Article 712 provides that, at the request of a party and following the procedure of the decree, «la autoridad aduanera podrá suspender provisionalmente la importación, exportación o tránsito de mercancías supuestamente piratas o de marca falsa, mientras la autoridad competente resuelve sobre la existencia o no de tal circunstancia» [the customs authority may provisionally suspend the import, export or transit of goods allegedly pirated or bearing a false mark, while the competent authority decides whether that is the case]. Under Article 713, the request is decided by the Dirección Seccional de Aduanas where the import or export is processed, and the right holder must bring a criminal complaint or a lawsuit before the competent judicial authority. Once the request is admitted, Article 718 gives the applicant ten business days to file the bank or insurance guarantee for 20% of the FOB value of the goods that Article 716 requires, and a copy of the complaint or lawsuit if it has not filed one yet; otherwise the request is treated as withdrawn and the customs operation continues normally.
Two provisions speak directly to licensees. Article 710 defines who counts as the trademark holder for these measures: «Titular de marca. Es el propietario de un registro marcario y, en su caso, sus causahabientes, cesionarios y licenciatarios exclusivos.» [Trademark holder. The owner of a trademark registration and, where applicable, its successors, assignees and exclusive licensees.] And Article 714 requires every suspension request to state the «Nombre o razón social y dirección de quien en el país esté autorizado o con licencia para disfrutar del derecho de propiedad intelectual» [name or company name and address of whoever in the country is authorized or licensed to enjoy the intellectual property right].
Decree 1165 also lets the DIAN keep a directory of right holders. Article 723 reads: «La Unidad Administrativa Especial Dirección de Impuestos y Aduanas Nacionales (DIAN) podrá elaborar un directorio de titulares de los derechos de propiedad intelectual a que se refiere este decreto, sus representantes o apoderados, renovable periódicamente, para facilitar la comunicación ágil por parte de la Autoridad Aduanera.» [The DIAN may draw up a directory of the holders of the intellectual property rights covered by this decree, their representatives or attorneys, renewable periodically, to make communication by the customs authority quicker.] Under Article 724, the application to be listed goes to the Subdirección de Gestión de Comercio Exterior and includes a contact person with city, address, email and telephone; a description of the goods that could be infringed, with a photograph that shows the features of the mark; proof of the existence and representation of a company; a power of attorney when someone else files; the title or registration of the right; and the «Nombre completo, identificación, dirección y correo electrónico de quien en el país esté autorizado por el titular del derecho de propiedad intelectual para importar mercancías contentivas de la(s) obra(s) protegida(s) o de la(s) marca(s) de su titularidad, en caso de configurarse dicha situación» [full name, identification, address and email of whoever in the country is authorized by the holder to import goods bearing the protected works or the marks it owns, where that is the case]. The same article adds: «La inscripción en el directorio debe renovarse en el mes de enero cada dos (2) años, con los mismos requisitos de la inscripción inicial.» [Registration in the directory must be renewed in January every two years, with the same requirements as the initial registration.] It also allows the DIAN to set a fee for the registration under its own regulation.
The directory changes what happens at the border. Under Article 725, a customs officer who finds goods showing signs of piracy or of a false mark contacts the party listed in the directory so it can examine them and, if it confirms the suspicion, request the suspension within the following two business days. Without a listing, the same article provides: «Cuando no hubiere inscripción en el directorio, el hecho se pondrá en conocimiento de la Fiscalía o de la Policía Judicial, sin perjuicio de la continuidad del trámite de la operación, a menos que la Fiscalía disponga la incautación de las mercancías dentro de los cinco (5) días hábiles siguientes a la denuncia.» [Where there is no registration in the directory, the matter is reported to the Fiscalía, the Attorney General’s Office, or to the Judicial Police, without prejudice to the continuation of the operation, unless the Fiscalía orders the seizure of the goods within the five business days following the report.] In short, the license goes to the SIC, and a listing in the DIAN directory, which can name the authorized importer, is a separate application for the owner that wants customs to know whom to call.
Use by the licensee, imports and exports
A license also keeps the registration alive. Article 165 of Decision 486 orders the cancellation of a registration, at the request of an interested person, «cuando sin motivo justificado la marca no se hubiese utilizado en al menos uno de los Países Miembros, por su titular, por un licenciatario o por otra persona autorizada para ello durante los tres años consecutivos precedentes a la fecha en que se inicie la acción de cancelación» [when, without justified reason, the mark has not been used in at least one of the Member Countries by its owner, by a licensee or by another person authorized to do so during the three consecutive years preceding the date on which the cancellation action is brought]. Article 166 counts exports: «También se considerará usada una marca, cuando distinga exclusivamente productos que son exportados desde cualquiera de los Países Miembros, según lo establecido en el párrafo anterior.» [A mark shall also be considered used when it distinguishes only products that are exported from any of the Member Countries, as provided in the preceding paragraph.] For an owner that sells in Colombia only through a licensed importer, the licensee’s invoices, import declarations and advertising are the evidence that defends the registration, so the agreement should say who keeps them; see trademark non-use cancellation in Colombia.
An exclusive importer should also read Article 158: «El registro de una marca no dará el derecho de impedir a un tercero realizar actos de comercio respecto de un producto protegido por dicho registro, después de que ese producto se hubiese introducido en el comercio en cualquier país por el titular del registro o por otra persona con consentimiento del titular o económicamente vinculada a él, en particular cuando los productos y los envases o embalajes que estuviesen en contacto directo con ellos no hubiesen sufrido ninguna modificación, alteración o deterioro.» [The registration of a mark does not give the right to prevent a third party from carrying out commercial acts with a product protected by that registration after the product has been put on the market in any country by the owner, or by another person with the owner’s consent or economically linked to it, in particular where the products, and the containers or packaging in direct contact with them, have not been modified, altered or damaged.] The register alone does not stop genuine products that the owner, or someone with its consent, has already sold in another country; an importer’s exclusivity against them is a matter for its contracts.
What a trademark license agreement should cover
The parties and the mark with its registration or application number; the goods or services covered; whether the license is exclusive or non-exclusive, and whether the owner keeps using the mark; territory and term; royalties, how they are calculated and how they are audited; quality standards and the owner’s right to check them; who enforces the mark against infringers, and who applies for border measures and for the DIAN directory; what happens to stock and to use of the mark on termination; who records the license with the SIC, who pays the fee and who asks for its removal when the agreement ends; and, for a licensee that imports or exports, how evidence of use is kept and shared.
Franchising in Colombia
A trademark license authorizes the use of a sign; a franchise transfers a complete business model, including the trademark, operating know-how, manuals, training and the look of the business. Franchise agreements in Colombia are built on the general rules of commercial contracts and on the industrial property rules for the trademark license and the protection of know-how. The know-how is usually a trade secret, and under Article 264 of Decision 486 whoever lawfully holds it may transfer it or authorize its use, and agreements that transmit technical knowledge may include confidentiality clauses, provided they do not breach the rules on free competition. The agreement must also cover initial fees and royalties, territorial exclusivity, manuals, training, quality control, advertising, termination and post-termination obligations, and the trademark license inside it must be recorded with the SIC like any other.
Patent licenses and technology transfer
Under Article 57 of Decision 486, the owner of a granted or pending patent may license it, «Deberá registrarse ante la oficina nacional competente toda licencia de explotación de una patente concedida» [every license to exploit a granted patent must be registered with the competent national office], and «La falta de registro ocasionará que la licencia no surta efectos frente a terceros» [failure to register means that the license has no effect against third parties]. When the agreement also includes technical assistance, engineering or unpatented know-how, it is a technology transfer agreement, and whatever the patent does not cover must be protected as confidential information within the same contract.
Software licenses
Software is protected in Colombia by copyright and exploited through licenses: the customer does not buy the program but the right to use it on agreed terms. The agreement should define exclusivity, the users or installations covered, access to source code, ownership of later developments, updates and support, confidentiality and limitation of liability. In commissioned development, ownership of what is built must be settled in the contract.
Who handles your license
Andrés Felipe López Gutiérrez, founding partner of the firm, handles the matter from the first review of the register, and you deal with him directly. He has more than 20 years of experience in industrial property and more than 3,000 trademarks handled before the SIC. He holds postgraduate specializations in Commercial Law, from Universidad del Rosario, and in Public Management and Administrative Institutions, from Universidad de los Andes, and the trademark guides on this site are published under his legal responsibility.
His trademark work runs from clearance searches and SIC filings to oppositions, appeals, renewals, non-use cancellations, assignments, license recordals and Madrid Protocol designations; in commercial law he drafts the license, distribution, supply and franchise agreements through which a brand reaches the company that sells it in Colombia.
How we work
We first check that the asset being licensed is properly protected in Colombia: the trademark registered or applied for, the international registration actually protected in Colombia, the patent in force, the know-how documented as confidential. A license over a weak right is a weak contract. We then draft or review the agreement from your side, licensor or licensee, franchisor or franchisee, negotiate the clauses that define the deal, record the license with the SIC and, if you want customs to know your authorized importer, prepare the application for the DIAN directory. With more than 20 years of experience in industrial property and commercial law, we know that disputes between licensors and licensees almost always come from what the contract did not say.
When you may not need us: if the contract is already settled and both parties will sign the SIC request, the recordal itself is the short procedure described above. Where a lawyer adds most is in the contract, in licenses over Madrid registrations and at the border. We quote a flat fee for each stage, in writing and the same day; official fees are separate.
Frequently asked questions
What is a trademark license?
A contract by which the owner of a mark, registered or still under application, authorizes someone else to use it, usually for a royalty, while keeping ownership. The SIC’s glossary describes it as a temporary authorization limited to a territory, in which the owner keeps the property and the licensee enjoys the right of use. In Colombia it is governed by Article 162 of Decision 486.
Does a trademark license have to be recorded in Colombia?
Yes. Article 162 of Decision 486 requires every license to use a mark to be registered with the national office, the SIC, and an unrecorded license has no effect against third parties. The license must be in writing, although the SIC asks for no separate written license when the recordal request is signed by both parties.
Where is the license recorded if the mark was registered in Colombia through the Madrid Protocol?
With the SIC. Colombia declared under Rule 20bis(6)(b) of the Common Regulations that licenses recorded in WIPO’s International Register have no effect in Colombia, and WIPO’s Information Notice No. 22/2012 says that such a license must be recorded in the national register of the Colombian office, directly and under Colombian law. A form MM13 filed with WIPO therefore does not cover Colombia.
How much does it cost to record a trademark license in Colombia?
In 2026 the SIC charges COP 538,000 for a license on a registered mark and COP 217,500 for a license on a pending application when filed online, about USD 169 and USD 68 at the TRM of October 22, 2026 (Resolution 6167 of 2026, items 1.1.2.3.21 and 1.1.2.2.6). Paper filings cost COP 655,000 and COP 265,000. Attorney’s fees are separate, and from January 1, 2027 the SIC applies Resolution 75972 of 2026.
Is there a customs recordal for trademarks in Colombia?
Not for the license, which is recorded with the SIC. Customs, the DIAN, applies border measures under Title 17 of Decree 1165 of 2019: at the holder’s request it can provisionally suspend the import, export or transit of goods allegedly bearing a false mark while the competent authority decides. The decree also lets the DIAN keep a directory of right holders, renewed every two years in January, in which the holder can name whoever it authorizes to import goods bearing its mark (Articles 723 and 724).
What is the DIAN in Colombia?
The Unidad Administrativa Especial Dirección de Impuestos y Aduanas Nacionales, Colombia’s national tax and customs authority. For trademarks its role is at the border: under Decree 1165 of 2019 it can suspend imports and exports of goods allegedly bearing a false mark, at the request of the owner or of an exclusive licensee, whom Article 710 includes in the definition of trademark holder.
Is a trademark assignment recorded the same way?
Yes, with the SIC. Article 161 of Decision 486 requires every transfer of a trademark registration to be registered, gives an unregistered transfer no effect against third parties and allows the office to refuse the recordal if the transfer would cause a risk of confusion. In 2026 the SIC fee is COP 486,000 online for each registration assigned (item 1.1.2.3.17 of Resolution 6167).
Does use by a licensee count as use of the trademark?
Yes. Under Article 165 of Decision 486, use by the owner, by a licensee or by another authorized person, in at least one Andean Community country, defends the registration against cancellation for non-use, which can be sought after three consecutive years without use. Under Article 166, use on products exported from any of those countries also counts.
Can a trademark be licensed while the application is pending?
Yes. Article 162 of Decision 486 allows a license over a registered mark or one in the process of registration, and Resolution 6167 has a specific fee for recording it during the application, COP 217,500 online. The agreement should say what happens if the application is refused.
How is a franchise agreement governed in Colombia?
By the general rules of commercial contracts and by Decision 486, which governs the trademark license that every franchise contains and its recordal with the SIC (Article 162), and the transfer of know-how as a trade secret (Article 264). That is why the content of the contract defines most of each party’s rights.
Contact us
Send us the mark and its registration or international registration number, who the licensee is and whether it will import, export or manufacture, on WhatsApp; we will tell you what to record with the SIC, whether a listing in the DIAN directory makes sense for you, and send you a flat-fee quote the same day.
Related pages
Colombia trademark agent for foreign IP firms · Registering a Chinese trademark in Colombia · Trademark registration in Colombia · Madrid Protocol or national filing in Colombia · Trademark non-use cancellation in Colombia · Power of attorney for Colombia · Trade secret attorneys in Colombia · Patent attorneys in Colombia · Commercial law attorneys in Colombia · Licencias de marca y franquicias (Spanish)
