Nation Branding in the Andean Community: Decision 876 of 23 April 2021 for a Common Nation Brand Regime GRUR Int 71, 3 (2022), 230 - 233.
On 23 April 2021, the Andean Community, comprised of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, adopted and published Decision 876 regulating the common nation brand regime for its territory. As a result, this integrated bloc of Latin American countries became a pioneer in this area. Decision 876 establishes a common regime for protecting country brands against any possible unauthorized registrations or the use of identical or similar signs in the Community’s Members Countries. It is interesting to note that, unlike other integration blocs in Latin America, the Andean Community has made notable progress in harmonizing regional regulations on intellectual property. In this sense, Decision 876 adds to its extensive legal corpus on the topic, with no similar rule existing in the other integration processes in the region. The Decision sets out the basic criteria related to Member Countries’ and third countries’ nation brands, the procedure for their protection and enforcement, and infringements.
