Bio

María Cecilia is a partner at CorralRosales. She has over 25 years of experience in IP matters and co-heads the Intellectual Property and Regulatory areas. María Cecilia works across several different industries, especially distribution and services, energy and natural resources, food and beverage, infrastructure and construction, insurance, pharma, aviation, and retail.

Under her leadership, CorralRosales has become an indisputable leader at the local and regional level of Intellectual Property and Regulatory. María Cecilia counsels numerous leading international companies as to their protection needs for their Intellectual Property portfolios in Ecuador and Latin America. Likewise, María Cecilia is widely recognized for her fight against piracy and counterfeiting with exceptional results.

In the regulatory area, María Cecilia oversees processes for obtaining permits and authorizations, due diligence, defense of clients in administrative and judicial processes, management of complex matters, and crisis management. She also handles issues of foreign trade and quality standards, or any other processes required to sell and exploit products and services.

María Cecilia is recognized within the industry for her detail-oriented style, as well as for her ability to find creative solutions to complex problems, all accomplished with impressive speed and precision.

María Cecilia participates actively in forums and conferences on Intellectual Property issues. She is the first Ecuadorian to sit on INTA’s Board of Directors and to form part of the Programming Committee of the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI).

María Cecilia has been recognized in legal directories such as Chambers and Partners Global and Latin America, IP Stars, Latin Lawyer, LACCA, Legal 500, Who’s Who Legal, and WTR 1000. Furthermore, María Cecilia received the Chambers Women in Law Award for Ecuador in 2018. She is the only Ecuadorian to have been recognized among the 250 most influential women in IP as selected by IP Stars. María Cecilia is a UEIPO´s Observatory International Panel of Experts member.

María Cecilia has a Juris Doctor degree from Pontifica Universidad Catolica del Ecuador, as well as several diplomas in various Intellectual Property topics. She has acted as an International IP Mediator and Arbitrator. She also has experience in the public sector, from her time as a judge of the Administrative Litigation Court. She has also acted as Chair in the first INTA LATAM Conference Cartagena 2017, International programming leader for INTA Boston 2019, and chair for the ASIPI Conference Quito 2020. María Cecilia sits on GLIPA´s Global Board of Directors and co-chairs the LATAM diversity pillar among various other leadership positions in different associations such as ECTA, MARQUES, INTA, and ASIPI.

“She is a very professional lawyer who, due to her vast experience and high-quality technical skills, is able to provide very sound and strategic advice”.

Chambers Latin America

Recognitions

2009: Intellectual Property: Band 1

2010: Intellectual Property: Band 1

2011: Intellectual Property: Band 1

2013: Intellectual Property: Band 1

2014: Intellectual Property: Band 1

2015: Intellectual Property: Band 1

2016: Intellectual Property: Band 1

2017: Intellectual Property: Band 1

2018: Intellectual Property: Band 1

2019: Intellectual Property: Band 1

2020: Intellectual Property: Band 1

2021: Band 1

2022: Band 1

2023: Intellectual Property: Band 1

2024: Intellectual Property: Band 1

Global Guide 2023:

Intellectual Property: Band 1

2025: Intellectual Property: Band 1

LATIN LAWYER 250:

Intellectual Property:

2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024

Administrative Law:

2013, 2014, 2016

LACCA:

2016: IP
2017: IP
2018: IP
2019: IP
2020: IP
2021: IP
2023: IP
2024: IP

2018:

  • IP Litigation: Excellent

2019:

  • IP Litigation: Excellent

2020

2021

2022

2023:

  • Trademark prosecution: Leading category
  • IP litigation: Leading category
  • Enforcement & anti-counterfeiting actions: Leading category
  • Patent prosecution: Excellent category
  • Plant Varieties Protection: Highly recommended category

2024:

  • Trademark prosecution: Leading
  • Patent prosecution: Leading
  • Enforcement & anti-counterfeiting actions: Leading
  • IP litigation: Leading
  • Plant Varieties Protection: Highly recommended

Intellectual Property: 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017

Leading Lawyer IP: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022

Intellectual Property | Tier 1 | Leading Individuals: 2023, 2024

2018: Patent & Trademark

2019: Patent & Trademark

2020: Patent Prosecition | Trademark Litigation & Prosecution

2021: Patent Star | Trademark Star | Top 250 Women in IP

2022: Patent Star | Trademark Star | Top 250 Women in IP

2023: Top 250 Women in IP | Patent Star | Trademark Star

2023

2018: Gold Lawyer

2020: Gold Lawyer

2021: Gold Lawyer

2022: Gold Lawyer

2023: Gold Lawyer

2024: Gold Lawyer, Global Leader

2010: Patents

2012: Patents

2013: Patents

2014: Patents

2015: Patents

2016: Patents

2020: Trademarks

2021: Patents

2022: Intellectual Property | Patents

2023: Patents | Trademarks

2024: Patents | Trademarks

2024: Recommended

Practice Areas

  • Intellectual Property
  • Regulatory

Industries

  • Aviation
  • Distribution and Services
  • Energy and Natural Resources
  • Food and Beverage
  • Infraestructure and Construction
  • Insurance
  • Pharma
  • Retail