Your U.S. Counterpart for Venezuelan Clients
Su contraparte en Estados Unidos para sus clientes venezolanos.
Venezuela is not a Madrid Protocol member, and many Venezuelan-owned brands now operate through companies in South Florida. We file direct U.S. applications for clients of Venezuelan firms, advise on which entity should own the U.S. mark, and screen every engagement for sanctions compliance.
Trademark activity in Venezuela and at the USPTO
SAPI recorded 14,239 trademark class counts in 2024, up 33% from 2019. Venezuelan owners filed 113 U.S. applications from 2021 to 2025, all of them directly.
Trademark filings at SAPI
Class count in all applications filed at SAPI.
View data table
| Year | Total | Resident | Non-resident |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 10,719 | – | – |
| 2020 | 7,773 | – | – |
| 2021 | 9,522 | – | – |
| 2022 | 12,143 | 7,817 | 4,326 |
| 2023 | 11,857 | 7,840 | 4,017 |
| 2024 | 14,239 | 8,200 | 6,039 |
U.S. applications filed by Venezuelan owners
USPTO applications per filing year from owners with an address in Venezuela. The 2026 bar covers January through September.
View data table
| Filing year | Filed | Registered to date | Via Madrid |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 18 | 5 | 0 |
| 2022 | 20 | 9 | 0 |
| 2023 | 24 | 15 | 0 |
| 2024 | 29 | 16 | 0 |
| 2025 | 22 | 9 | 0 |
| 2026 (Jan.–Sept.) | 25 | 3 | 0 |
How Venezuelan applicants file in the U.S.
Filing basis claimed in U.S. applications from Venezuela, 2021 to 2025. An application can claim more than one basis.
View data table
| Basis | Applications |
|---|---|
| Intent to use · § 1(b) | 71 |
| Use in U.S. commerce · § 1(a) | 30 |
| Home registration · § 44(e) | 6 |
| Priority claim · § 44(d) | 7 |
No Madrid route
Venezuela is not a member of the Madrid Protocol, so WIPO records no international applications from SAPI and no designations of Venezuela. Every U.S. filing for a Venezuelan client is a direct USPTO application, and every filing by a U.S. owner in Venezuela goes through local counsel.
Venezuelan applicants relied on the home filing, through Section 44(d) priority or a Section 44(e) registration, in 13 claims from 2021 to 2025.
How we counted. National-office figures are class counts (applications multiplied by the classes they name) from the WIPO IP Statistics Data Center, May 2026 update, covering direct and Madrid filings. Madrid figures are WIPO counts by date of receipt at the International Bureau through 2025. USPTO figures count applications by filing date where an owner's address is in Venezuela, from USPTO records retrieved October 27, 2026.
The U.S.-attorney rule for Venezuelan clients
Since August 3, 2019, applicants and registrants domiciled in Venezuela must be represented before the USPTO by an attorney licensed in a U.S. state. Venezuela is outside the Madrid system, so each U.S. filing is a direct application.
Before engagement, the firm screens every Venezuelan client and transaction against current U.S. sanctions rules administered by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control.
What this means for your firm
- You keep the client relationship and the strategy
- We are attorney of record and correspondence address at the USPTO
- Every USPTO notice comes to you with our recommendation
- We send U.S.-originated work in Venezuela back to you
What we handle for your Venezuelan clients
The full U.S. life of a mark, from the first filing to enforcement, under your instructions.
Direct U.S. filings
Use, intent-to-use, Section 44(e) home-registration, and Section 44(d) priority applications.
Madrid refusals
Responses to USPTO provisional refusals of designations of the United States.
Office actions
Arguments and amendments on likelihood of confusion, descriptiveness, specimens, and identification.
TTAB matters
Oppositions, cancellations, ex parte appeals, letters of protest, and expungement or reexamination petitions.
Maintenance
Section 8 and Section 71 declarations, Section 15 affidavits, Section 9 renewals, and docketing every U.S. deadline.
Recordals
Assignments, mergers, and name changes recorded with the USPTO Assignment Recordation Branch.
Enforcement
Cease-and-desist letters, U.S. Customs recordation, Amazon Brand Registry, and coordination with litigation counsel.
Built for the instructing firm
- Conflict checkWe clear conflicts before any substantive work, usually within one business day.
- Associate agreementA short written agreement sets reporting, billing, and client-contact rules.
- InstructionsBy email, in Spanish or English. We confirm receipt and the deadline the same day.
- ReportingWe report to your firm, not to your client, unless you ask us to copy the client.
- FeesFixed fees for standard actions, invoiced in U.S. dollars with wire instructions; government fees at cost.
Where U.S. filings from Venezuela go wrong
The issues we see most often in U.S. matters sent by Venezuelan firms, and how we deal with each.
Choosing the owner
Families and partners who have moved to Florida often file in a personal name, a new U.S. company, or the original Venezuelan company without deciding which one controls the brand. A filing by the wrong owner can be void.
We review the corporate structure and document any transfer before filing.
Relying on Venezuelan use
Years of use in Venezuela create no U.S. rights. A later U.S. user can take priority in the U.S.
We file as soon as U.S. sales are planned, on an intent-to-use basis if needed.
The six-month priority window
A U.S. filing within six months of the SAPI application can claim its date under Section 44(d).
We coordinate the U.S. filing with the SAPI filing.
Payments and sanctions
Payments from restricted channels can be blocked, and delays can cost deadlines.
We confirm the source of funds at intake and invoice in U.S. dollars.
Spanish product words
Spanish words that describe the goods, such as food names, are refused as descriptive once translated.
We check meaning and distinctiveness before filing.
Work flows both ways
We refer U.S. clients' Venezuelan matters to the Venezuelan firms that send us U.S. work, subject to the same sanctions screening.
We do not practice Venezuelan law. When a U.S. client needs protection in Venezuela, the matter goes to Venezuelan counsel, and we report the result to our client.
What to send with an instruction
- Client name, entity type, and country of organization
- Full address of domicile (street address, not a P.O. box)
- The mark as filed at home, with any color claim and translation
- Home filing or registration number and date (for priority or Section 44(e))
- Goods and services, ideally already in U.S. ID Manual wording
- U.S. use dates and a specimen, if the client already sells in the U.S.
- For Madrid refusals: the WIPO notification and the USPTO refusal
- The response or filing deadline you are working to
Frequently asked questions
Can a Venezuelan client use Madrid?
No. Venezuela is not a Madrid member, so U.S. protection requires a direct USPTO application.
Should the U.S. company or the Venezuelan company own the mark?
The owner should be the entity that controls the nature and quality of the goods or services. We review the structure before filing, because the wrong owner can invalidate the application.
How are your fees structured for associate work?
Standard actions, such as a new application, a response to a routine refusal, or a Section 71 declaration, carry fixed professional fees, listed in our associate fee schedule. Contested work is billed by the hour or on a quoted budget. Government fees are passed through at cost, and invoices are in U.S. dollars.
How quickly do you act on an instruction?
We confirm receipt and the deadline the same business day and clear conflicts before substantive work. For urgent deadlines, tell us the date in your first email.
What does sanctions screening involve?
We check the client, its owners, and the transaction against current U.S. sanctions lists and rules before engagement. We do not give sanctions advice on this page; screening is part of our intake.
Will you contact our client directly?
No, unless you ask us to. We report to you and copy the client only on your instruction.
Request our associate fee schedule
Our schedule lists fixed fees for the U.S. actions Venezuelan firms send most often, with our instruction checklist and a short guide to the most common USPTO refusals of filings from abroad.
- Direct USPTO applications
- Section 44(d) and 44(e) filings
- TTAB oppositions and cancellations
- Section 8 and Section 71 declarations