Yes, Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT): 31-month deadline for entry into the national phase, counted as from the oldest priority.

Paris Convention: 12 months deadline as from the priority’s filing date.

First/current year annuities are to be paid a year in advance; for Priority/PCT applications, back-due annuities are to be paid at filing, counted as from the International Filing Date. Thereafter, yearly maintenance fees must be paid to keep the application/registration alive.

Upon expiration of the 6-month grace period, lack of annuity/maintenance payments results in the automatic and irrevocable lapsing of the application/registration.

Yes, it is possible.

This may result in savings when considering filing and examination fees on additional claims after Claim No. 10, or re-examination fees when considering the amount of pages in the application.

The timeline can vary, but on average, it takes about 4 to 6 years, approx., to obtain a patent in Ecuador.

Patent Prosecution Highway is not available in Ecuador.

Mainly, inventions whose commercial exploitation affects public order or morals; affects the protection of human or animal health or life, or for the preservation of plants or the environment (not solely because a legal or administrative provision that prohibits or regulates such exploitation exists).

Plants, animals and essentially biological processes for production of plants or animals except non-biological or microbiological processes; and therapeutic or surgical methods for human or animal treatment, as well as diagnostic methods applied to human beings or to animals; are also not patentable. Decision 486’s Art. 20.

As per Ecuador’s IP Law, Art. 273, the following are not patentable: product of polymorphs, metabolites, pure forms, sizes for particles and isomers which have not been investigated in Ecuador; nor the product of the genetic resources containing the biological diversity and the agro-diversity which have not been investigated in Ecuador.
Towards numeral 1 above, these, among others, are not patentable:
a. Cloning procedures of human beings;
b. The human body and its genetics;
c. The use of human embryos for industrial or commercial purposes; and,
d. Procedures for the modification of the genetic identity of animals when these cause suffering without any substantial medical benefit being obtained for humans or the animals.

And finally, as per Art. 267, traditional knowledge is not considered protectable material.

The following shall not be considered inventions as per Decision 486’s Art. 15:
a) discoveries, scientific theories, and mathematical methods;
b) the whole or part of live beings as found in nature, natural biological processes, biological material existing in nature, or such material that can be isolated, including genoma or germoplasma of any natural live being;
c) literary and artistic works or any other protected by copyright;
d) plans, rules and methods for exercising intellectual activities, games or economic-commercial activities;
e) computer software, as such; and
f) forms/manners of presenting information.

The following shall not be considered inventions as per Ecuador’s IP Law – EOCSEK, Article 268:
(…) 3. The new form of a substance, including salts, esters, ethers, complexes, combinations or other derivatives.
4. Polymorphs, metabolites, pure forms, particle sizes and isomers;
5. Uses and any new property or new use of a known substance or the utilization of a procedure or a machine or apparatus.
6. Genetic resources containing the biological diversity and the agro-diversity. (…)