Features

Argentina’s New Trade Commitments and Their Impact on IP Protection

Published: September 15, 2026

Cristian Daniel Bittel Marval O'Farrel Mairal Buenos Aires, Argentina Patents Committee

Martin Chajchir Marval O'Farrell Mairal Buenos Aires, Argentina INTA Bulletins Correspondent, Enforcement Committee

Background

For more than two decades, Argentina remained on the Priority Watch List of the Special 301 Report on Intellectual Property Protection and Enforcement, issued annually by the Office of the United States Trade Representative, until it was moved to the Watch List upon publication of this year’s report on April 30.

Previous issues of the Special 301 Report pointed to structural deficiencies in Argentina’s intellectual property (IP) framework, particularly in the following areas:

Patent eligibility standards, especially in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors;
Regulatory data protection for agrochemical and pharmaceutical products;
Trademark enforcement, including widespread counterfeiting in major physical markets;
Enforcement against online piracy; and
Institutional capacity constraints at the Argentine Patent and Trademark Office, including examination backlogs, reduced staffing, and lengthy prosecution timelines.

In November 2025, the White House announced a joint framework agreement with Argentina aimed at deepening bilateral trade and investment ties. IP featured prominently from the outset. The public statement underscored Argentina’s commitment to address the structural concerns identified in the 2025 Special 301 Report, including patentability criteria, the patent backlog, and geographical indications, and to work toward greater alignment of its IP regime with international standards.

Following these discussions, on February 5, 2026, the United States and Argentina signed a reciprocal trade and investment agreement. Beyond significant reductions in trade barriers, the agreement incorporates substantive commitments by Argentina to modernize and further harmonize its IP legislation with international standards.

The agreement contains a broad array of undertakings that are relevant to the IP community.

Below are the most consequential developments for the innovation ecosystem, each of which could materially impact both domestic and foreign applicants.

Key Changes for the Patent Ecosystem

Accession to the Patent Cooperation Treaty

Argentina has committed to accede to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) by submitting the treaty to Congress for consideration and ratification.

On August 27, 2026, Argentina’s Chamber of Deputies approved accession to the PCT, but the measure must still return to the Senate for further approval before Argentina can complete the accession process and become a PCT Contracting State.

For applicants that have traditionally relied on direct Paris Convention filings or have opted to exclude Argentina from their global portfolios altogether, accession to the PCT would represent a structural shift, aligning Argentina with the filing frameworks routinely used in major jurisdictions.

Membership of the PCT would streamline the process for designating Argentina within international applications, reducing administrative burdens, enhancing timing flexibility, and lowering the procedural complexity and costs associated with incorporating Argentina into global patent strategies.

To comply with its commitments, the executive branch sent the PCT to Congress for approval in mid-April. While the April 30 deadline was not met, it is expected that the treaty will be approved soon.

Repeal of Restrictive Pharma/Biotech Patentability Guidelines

The agreement also requires Argentina to “expeditiously take steps to fully resolve the issues identified … in the most recent Special 301 Report, including …” repealing the current patentability guidelines that significantly narrow eligibility for pharmaceutical and biotech inventions.

In compliance with this commitment, Argentina repealed these restrictive guidelines in two separate steps. The 2012 pharmaceutical guidelines (Joint Resolutions No. 118/2012, No. 546/2012, and No. 107/2012, issued jointly by the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Health, and INPI) were abrogated on March 18, 2026, through Joint Resolution No. 1/2026. The 2015 biotechnology guidelines (INPI Resolution No. 283/2015) were separately abrogated on June 19, 2026, through INPI Resolution No. 197/2026.

These guidelines, issued in 2012 and 2015 respectively, departed from criteria applied in jurisdictions such as the United States, Europe, and several Latin American neighbors, and made the system one of the most restrictive globally, often forcing applicants to limit claim scope or exclude valuable embodiments entirely.

The pharmaceutical guidelines introduced strict exclusions, denying patent protection to a wide range of subject matter, including crystalline forms, enantiomers, selection inventions, formulations, salts and esters, and Markush claims, among others.

With their abrogation, these categories are no longer automatically excluded, signaling a clear shift toward a more flexible and internationally aligned approach to patent examination.

Backlog Reduction

Argentina has also undertaken to implement “expeditious measures” to reduce patent pendency, with particular emphasis on life sciences applications. .

Considering the longstanding backlog at the Argentine Patent Office in these technological sectors, this commitment raises significant expectations for forthcoming initiatives, particularly those aimed at increasing examiner staffing, enhancing technical training, and modernizing examination procedures and workflows.

As a first measure, on May 13, 2026, the Argentine Patent Office modified the rules for requesting accelerated examination based on equivalents granted abroad. Now, one can file a request at any time during prosecution.

Argentina has also undertaken to implement “expeditious measures” to reduce patent pendency, with particular emphasis on life sciences applications.

Patent Term Adjustments and Regulatory Data Protection

The Argentine government has further agreed to assess the feasibility of introducing a regulatory data protection framework inspired by USMCA-type standards, as well as the possible implementation of patent term extensions to offset unreasonable delays in patent examination.

While both initiatives remain subject to technical and legislative evaluation, their inclusion in the agreement signals a broader policy orientation toward enhancing legal certainty, predictability, and investment protection in innovation-driven industries.

Key Changes for Trademarks

Accession to the Madrid Protocol and the Singapore Treaty

Argentina agreed to submit the Madrid Protocol and the Singapore Treaty on Trademarks to Congress for consideration and a vote on ratification by the end of 2027.

Argentina’s accession to both treaties would align local trademark practice to international standards and would represent a structural shift in how trademark protection is sought in and from the country.

Accession would also require adjustments in examination timelines and procedures to comply with the deadlines and interaction mechanisms imposed by the international system.

The alignment with the Singapore Treaty would reinforce the modernization of the Argentine trademark system and would entail a standardization of formal requirements and administrative practices.

Improved Enforcement

The agreement reaffirms Argentina’s commitment to a high standard of IP protection.

Argentina undertook to maintain effective civil, criminal, and border enforcement mechanisms to deter the infringement and misappropriation of IP rights, including in the online environment. The measures particularly emphasize criminal and border enforcement against trademark counterfeiting and copyright infringement.

The agreement also calls for enhanced border measures, including granting customs ex officio powers to act against infringing goods, even in transit (although the highest criminal court in Argentina has already held that Argentine customs agents have the authority to inspect and seize infringing goods, even if in transit to a foreign jurisdiction).

Coupled with obligations to publish regular enforcement statistics and to develop a national anticounterfeiting and anti-piracy strategy, these commitments point towards greater transparency and accountability in IP enforcement.

Key Changes for Geographical Indications

The agreement also addresses the interaction between geographical indications and trademark rights, reaffirming that the recognition or protection of geographical indications is subject to grounds for refusal or opposition based on the likelihood of confusion with a prior trademark, as well as on whether a term is customary in common language.

Argentina undertook to implement transparent and fair procedures for the examination, opposition, and cancellation of geographical indications, expressly recognizing prior trademark rights, consumer perception, actual market use, trade practices, and imports as relevant factors.

These commitments point towards greater transparency and accountability in IP enforcement.

Treaty Pipeline

In addition to the PCT, Madrid Protocol, and Singapore Treaty, Argentina also commits to pursuing the ratification of several other important international IP agreements:

Convention Relating to the Distribution of Programme-Carrying Signals Transmitted by Satellite, signed in Brussels on May 21, 1974;
Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure, signed in Budapest on April 28, 1977, as amended on September 26, 1980;
Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs, signed in Geneva on July 2, 1999;
Patent Law Treaty, signed in Geneva on June 1, 2000; and
International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, signed in Paris on December 2, 1961, as revised in Geneva on March 19, 1991.

These treaties should be submitted to Congress for consideration and ratification before the end of 2027.

Each of these instruments could materially simplify the acquisition and enforcement of IP rights in Argentina.

Accession to the Patent Law Treaty would harmonize and streamline formal procedural requirements, reducing administrative burdens in patent prosecution.

Each of these instruments could materially simplify the acquisition and enforcement of IP rights in Argentina.

Joining the Hague Agreement would enable more efficient and consistent protection of industrial designs across jurisdictions.

Meanwhile, adoption of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) 1991 would modernize the legal framework governing plant variety protection, a development of growing importance for companies active in agricultural biotechnology and food technology, both in Argentina and throughout the region.

Next Steps

The Reciprocal Trade and Investment Agreement will require approval by the Argentine Congress before entering into force. Considering the current political momentum, short-term ratification appears reasonably likely.

Similarly, Argentina’s accession to the various treaties the agreement refers to will require congressional approval, followed by the formal deposit of the corresponding instruments of ratification.

In parallel, administrative action may implement several other commitments (measures to reduce examination backlogs, strengthened enforcement against trademark counterfeiting, and improvements to procedures governing the examination, opposition, and cancellation of geographical indications). In practice, the patentability guidelines were abrogated through a joint resolution of the Argentine National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI), the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Economy.

As such, these reforms could advance on a shorter timeline, subject to regulatory and institutional decisions by the relevant authorities.

Although every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of this article, readers are urged to check independently on matters of specific concern or interest. The opinions expressed in this feature are those of the authors and do not purport to reflect the views of INTA or its members.