Author Archives: SOPORTE PUBLITEK

“My law degree and specialization in Intellectual Property were not choices I made, but rather a destiny that chose me.”

It was with these words that María Cecilia Romoleroux —recognized through multiple international awards and appointments, including the Chambers Women in Law Awards— dove into an exclusive conversation with Ekos Violeta Magazine.

Her journey in the legal world began when a family member, surprisingly and without consulting with her, enrolled her in law school. At the time, she could never have imagined that she would become a distinguished attorney with a career spanning more than three decades.

Maria Cecilia’s story begins in the 1990s when, at the age of 20, started an intellectual property practice with a friend and fell in love with intellectual property. However, as so often happens in life, challenges arose, and Maria Cecilia experienced difficult times that included harassment and discrimination, which ended up triggering her decision to find her way in the profession. Although it was a rocky path, she never doubted that her potential would lead her to break glass ceilings.

“At the age of 24, young and afraid, I decided to seek my independence and not stand idly by in a world that often resists women having prominent roles,” she said. Although some people frowned at her way forward, Maria Cecilia leaped into the unknown, not knowing what awaited her, but always confident of herself.

More than two decades ago, María Cecilia first began working at the CorralRosales law firm and contributed to its growth, demonstrating that women can reach high positions in the legal world.

Impactful Strategies

From her position as a firm partner, she has implemented programs and workshops to promote gender equality and empower women. One of them is the Entrepreneur Program, which seeks to support new ideas and business models, launched by entrepreneurs, that contribute to the dynamization of the Ecuadorian business ecosystem. The program pays special attention to initiatives generated by female talent, minority groups, and the LGTBQ+ community. Support is provided to them through the firm’s pro-bono program and specialized legal counsel with preferential conditions.

Maria Cecilia has not only achieved her own personal success, but also advocates to empower future generations. “I have always had a special focus on social facets because for me, the right thing to do is pave the way and work to make things easier for other young women and future generations, generating a new reality, one with fewer obstacles to overcome,” she says.

She concludes with a powerful piece of advice: “The world has evolved, and there is no turning back. We need to educate and train ourselves, trust ourselves, and change our mentality. We women are not victims, and we can be the protagonists of our lives.

Maria Cecilia’s story reminds us that, with determination and self-confidence, it is possible to reach heights and positions traditionally thought to be reserved for.

If you want to read the complete article, click here (pages 34 and 35).

Our associate Andrea Miño Moncayo published the following article in WTR Daily “Well-known and Renown trademarks; nullity actions for bad faith – new jurisprudential precedents-” and analyzed the Preliminary Interpretation 128-IP-2022, published in the Official Gazette of the Court of Justice of the Andean Community on October 11, 2023. This jurisprudence identified possible signs that could lead to the conclusion that there is bad faith in the registration of a well-known trademark that has not been registered in the Community territory.

How does the Community legislation address the issue of a trademark´s nullity within the Andean Community? The Andean Community legislation establishes that the Andean IP Offices may declare ex officio or at the request of a third party with a legitimate interest, the nullity of a trademark registration when it has been granted in contravention of the relative or absolute grounds established in the regulation or obtained in bad faith.

Miño stated that the relative grounds refer to whether the registration was granted in violation of third-party rights, bad faith, or unfair competition. On previous occasions, community jurisprudence established that in order to prove the existence of actions contrary to good faith, the plaintiff was obliged to prove that the applicant had prior knowledge of the registered trademark and to demonstrate, at least, the existence of a contractual relationship between the parties. Nevertheless, there were no jurisprudential precedents that developed nullity actions in relation to well-known trademarks.

The Court clarifies that, in the case of well-known or renowned trademarks, the IP Office must evaluate this prior knowledge. If the trademark is renowned abroad, it would not be necessary to prove the existence of a prior relationship between the applicant and the legitimate owner of the trademark. If this trademark is well-known, it would be sufficient to demonstrate that the applicant is part of the relevant segment that is aware of the notoriety of the applied for or registered trademark.

These signs do not apply to non-well-known or non-renowned trademarks, i.e., ordinary trademarks and there is not, moreover, at least a competitive connection between the goods and services protected by the conflicting trademarks.

How to identify “opportunistic behavior and possible bad faith of a trademark applicant? The Court emphasizes that the “opportunistic behavior” of the applicant to determine a bad faith action, can be revealed when the applicant intends to appropriate several trademarks used and known abroad, without there being a real use on its part in the local market.  This would show that the applicant’s intention in obtaining this plurality of registrations could be to sell them to their original owners when they are interested in the community market.

Through this interpretation, the Court seeks to avoid the appropriation of well-known and internationally renowned trademarks by unauthorized third parties. This infringement of trademark rights has increased in our country through registration applications filed indiscriminately at the IP Office by third parties other than the original owners, as well as through the commercialization of goods not authorized to use these trademarks.

In this sense, the author concludes, the Court establishes a precedent against actions that may generate damage to the rights of foreign persons or companies, whose trademarks, due to the wide recognition acquired, were registered by third parties within the community territory looking for an unfair advantage, configuring actions contrary to good faith.

This article first appeared in WTR Daily, part of World Trademark Review, in October 2023. For more information, go here.

On September 28-29, 2023, the Latin American and Caribbean Competition Forum (FLACC), promoted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), was held in the city of Quito. Our associate, Christian Razza, writes a reflection on this event in an article for The Legal Industry Reviews (LIR).

Razza points out that the FLACC is an annual event in which international experts and competition authorities from around the world share experiences in the application of competition law.

He also notes that this year’s event, which Ecuador hosted for the first time, discussed the following topics: poverty, sports, and the Dominican Republic’s peer review.

1. Competition and poverty

In this regard, Razza points out that during the FLACC, the role of competition policy in poverty reduction was discussed, considering that poverty reduction continues to be a priority for Latin American and Caribbean countries. He adds that the event provided examples of how competition authorities can contribute through their actions to poverty reduction, both from the point of view of enforcement and advocacy.

In the same context, Razza stresses that Eleanor Fox, professor emeritus at New York University School of Law, explained that the lack of competition in food markets hurts the poorest households the most and that more competitive markets foster long-term employment growth.

2. Competition and sports

On this topic, Razza indicates that key competition issues related to the sports industry were discussed, including competition in the organization of sports leagues (e.g., the existence of a monopoly and possible abusive behavior by league organizers), sports broadcasting rights, the sale of tickets for sporting events, and sports labor markets.

He adds that the Spanish National Commission for Markets and Competition pointed out in its intervention that in Europe the process of interaction between competition and sport will be influenced by the rulings of the Court of Justice on the International Skating Union and the Super League, which will be handed down at the end of this year. These rulings will either intensify the trend towards greater application of competition law to sport or limit it.

3. Peer reviewed Dominican Republic’s competition regime 

In this regard, our partner specifies that this review is an instrument that allows evaluating the policies, strategies and activities of the country and its effectiveness, to achieve its social and economic objectives in accordance with international best practices in competition law. He adds that Ecuador was subjected to this review in 2021 and that the competition law and policy standards of the Dominican Republic were evaluated by its peer countries as follows: representatives of Costa Rica evaluated the institutional aspects, Chilean technicians reviewed the defense issues, and their Mexican peers oversaw the competition advocacy aspects.

To conclude, Razza emphasizes that the FLACC is one of the most important events for the international competition community and, therefore, the fact that Ecuador has hosted the FLACC will allow the Superintendence of Economic Competition and Ecuador to propose and participate in a leading role in the debates and dialogues that determine the progress of research in the field, as well as to facilitate the dissemination of knowledge and cutting-edge methodologies with the actors of the Ecuadorian regime in favor of the markets.

If you want to read the complete article, click here.