Oficina española de Patentes y Marcas

The objectives and functions of the SPTO are detailed below.

THE SPTO TODAY

The Spanish Patent and Trade Mark Office (SPTO) is an autonomous body that forms part of the General Administration of the State and which promotes and supports technological and economic development. It provides legal protection to all types of industrial property by awarding patents and utility models (inventions); industrial designs; trade marks and trade names (distinctive signs) and rights protecting topographies of semiconductor products. It also disseminates information on the various ways in which industrial property can be protected.

The SPTO also represents Spain in international forums and organisations that are responsible for protecting industrial and intellectual property.

The SPTO has, therefore, a dual function:

• To award industrial property rights following due examination of applications.
• To provide technological information services based on information about the various types of industrial property rights awarded by the SPTO and other offices overseas.

The main objectives of the SPTO are as follows:

• To protect and promote creation and technological innovation in Spain as well as corporate business identity by awarding industrial property rights.
• To provide information that helps to guide research activity by maintaining archives and databases that enable quick and easy access to up-to-date information on the latest global technical developments in all sectors.
• To promote the circulation and exchanging of goods and services by disseminating information on registered distinctive signs.