Bolivia’s Supreme Court of Justice is showing a tendency to seek support from the Andean Community Court, petitioning it to provide pre-judicial interpretation of Decision No. 486 establishing the Common Industrial Property Regime, adopted by the member countries of the Andean Community of Nations (CAN).

For example, at the request of the Bolivian Supreme Court, in July 2015 the Andean Community Court issued a pre-judicial pronouncement in relation to trademark dilution regulations in Decision No. 486. In summary, the Andean Community Court held that for a trademark to be cancelled on grounds of dilution (loss of distinctiveness of a mark) the following elements established in article 169 must occur simultaneously:

a) The need for competitors to use the sign to carry out their business activities, given the absence of any other appropriate name or term for designating or identifying the good or service in question in their trade;

b) Widespread use of the trademark by the general public and in commerce as the common or generic indication of the good or service in question; and

c) Unawareness or limited knowledge by the public that the trademark denotes a specific corporate origin.