Last month, the Venezuelan Ministry of National Commerce issued a notice requiring patent and trademark fees to be paid in the cryptocurrency issued by the Venezuelan government — the Petro, which supposedly is backed by Venezuela’s oil and mineral reserves.

As noted in previous posts, the United States has been increasing its economic sanctions on Venezuela. Last year, the president issued an executive order specifically prohibiting US persons from engaging in financial transactions using Petros, in order to address attempts by the Maduro regime to circumvent US sanctions on financial transactions by US persons with the Venezuelan government.

Susan Ross, a senior counsel in the Norton Rose Fulbright New York Office, has written a Legal Update discussing how US owners of patents and trademarks registered in Venezuela can attempt to maintain their Venezuelan registrations yet not violate US economic sanctions laws.

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