BlogAI & Innovation Intellectual property from R&D: what Chile's R&D Law covers
A successful R&D project produces something valuable: new knowledge. Protecting it takes money and time. The good news is that the R&D Law lets you include those costs in the benefit, under certain conditions.
What it covers
According to the Certification Regulation and Corfo’s FAQ, the activities needed to establish rights over the following are eligible:
- Industrial property: invention patents, utility models and designs.
- Copyright over computer programs (software).
- Rights over new plant varieties.
This includes the related costs: professional services, expert reports, defending against oppositions and publications required for registration.
The key condition
These costs are eligible as long as the rights come from projects or contracts already certified by Corfo. In other words, the protection has to result from the project’s R&D, not be a standalone registration.
An interesting bit of history: during the debate on the 2012 reform, some legislators criticized that the law funded the whole R&D process but not the final step of protecting its results (Olivares, 2014). Today, protecting results is among the accepted expenses.
What it doesn’t cover
The law expressly excludes acquiring intellectual or industrial property when that is the main purpose of the activities. Buying a patent or a third-party licence isn’t R&D, even if you later use it to innovate.
| Covered | Not covered |
|---|---|
| Registering a patent on the project’s invention | Buying a patent from a third party |
| Registering the software developed in the project | Licensing commercial software |
| Defending the application against an opposition | Later commercial infringement lawsuits |
Where to register in Chile
- Patents, utility models and designs: with INAPI (Chile’s National Institute of Industrial Property).
- Software: copyright registration is handled by the Departamento de Derechos Intelectuales (Copyright Department).
- Plant varieties: with the protected varieties register run by SAG (the Agriculture and Livestock Service).
Recommendations
- Include protection in the budget from the start, as an expense line tied to the expected results. See How to build your budget.
- Assess patentability before publishing. Disclosing a result can affect your ability to patent it.
- Agree on ownership if you work with third parties or in a joint project: who owns what should be in writing before you start.
- Document the invention in your R&D log. The same evidence that supports the project before Corfo helps with the patent application. See How to document technical uncertainty.
This article is for information only and is not tax or legal advice. Sources: Law 20,241, Certification Regulation (Supreme Decree 102/2012), Corfo’s FAQ and Olivares (2014), University of Chile.
Leveraging AI for innovation (and when your project can qualify as R&D)
Using AI is not the same as doing research with AI. When an artificial intelligence project can qualify under Chile's R&D Law, which costs it covers and how to document it.
Software development and the R&D Law: when your project qualifies
Chile's R&D Law expressly includes software development, but not all software is R&D. We explain the test, with examples, and how it fits with agile methods.