In the recent article “ARGENTINA: INPI Issues First Ex Officio Trademark Nullity Decisions on Relative Grounds” published on August 5, 2026 in the INTA Bulletin, our partner Celia Lerman and our legal intern Victoria Weinmeister Diez, analyzed a highly significant change in Argentine trademark practice: the INPI began issuing the first ex officio trademark nullity decisions on relative grounds, marking a shift in the exercise of its administrative review powers.
The decisions analyzed confirm that the INPI no longer limits this approach to cases involving absolute prohibitions. At this new stage, the Office declared ex officio the nullity of registrations due to their similarity to earlier trademarks or applications, as well as signs incorporating a celebrity´s name without the corresponding authorization.
This new approach reflects an increasingly proactive role by the INPI in strengthening the trademark register and confirms that a registration granted in error no longer guarantees that it will remain in force. Moreover, these decisions continue a line initiated in 2025, when the INPI began declaring ex officio the nullity of registrations improperly granted on absolute grounds, consolidating a policy of greater oversight of the trademark register.
In this context, the legal certainty of a trademark will increasingly depend on a sound protection strategy and a preventive analysis throughout its entire life cycle.
The article examined the scope of these landmark decisions and the implications this new approach may have for trademark practice in Argentina.
Based on the article published in INTA Bulletin: “Argentina: INPI Issues First Ex Officio Trademark Nullity Decisions on Relative Grounds” (August 2026)”
