(1) A trademark is defined as any sign capable of distinguishing goods or services, including words, drawings, combinations of words and drawings, labels, combinations of colors, sounds, trade dress (including the trade dress of the business), and other distinctive signs.

(2) The law provides for absolute prohibitions (e.g., generic or descriptive terms) and relative prohibitions (e.g., prior conflicting applications or registrations) to registration.

(3) If a priority claim is made, it must be included at the time the application is filed or within 2 months of filing.

(4) The 2-month unextendible opposition term has been retained, as well as the requirement that evidence filed in support of an opposition must be submitted within 30 days from the date the opposition is filed. An opposition may be filed on the basis of a registration or prior application covering similar goods in the same or different classes; or on the basis of prior use of an identical or similar mark made in good faith in Nicaragua. The Central American Trademark Convention does not provide for filing an opposition based on prior user rights.

(5) Under the Central American Convention, there is no user requirement, and the user requirement provided for in the Inter-American Convention of 1929 governed. However, the new law includes a user requirement, under which use of a trademark is now required within 3 years of registration. Failure to make such use renders a registration vulnerable to attack.

(6) A separate application for each class of goods and/or services is no longer required and a single application may cover several classes.

(7) The new law extends the protection of a well-known mark against conflicting marks for dissimilar goods or services.

(8) The new law has provisions for infringement and unfair competition proceedings. Such actions brought before the Court can result in, not only injunctive relief, but an award of damages and measures to prevent continuation of the wrongful acts, including the withdrawal from the market of the goods and advertising, a bar to the import or export of the goods, publication of the decision at the expense of the defendant and notice to the persons concerned.

(9) A trademark assignment or license must be in writing and recorded with the Trademark Office to be effective vis-a-vis third parties. Licenses may be exclusive or non-exclusive.

(10) An applicant need not have an industrial or commercial establishment and accordingly holding companies are now permitted to obtain trademark registrations.

(11) Provision for the registration of collective and certification marks is included.

(12) Registrations are still granted for a term of 10 years and may be renewed for further 10- year periods.