Basic concepts
Intellectual property is a concept that refers to intellectual activities such as inventions, literary and artistic creations, industrial activities, symbols, names and images used in commerce.
Regarding Intellectual Property rights, these are the rights that allow the creators or owners of a trademark, patent or copyright to beneficiate from all intellectual creations, whether it is for themselves or for any third party through licenses.
Concept of Trademarks and Patents
A trademark is any distinctive sign, name, symbol or design used by companies to identify their products or services, indicating that they originate from a unique source, as well as differentiating them from those of the competition and providing customers with a promise of consistency in what regards to the characteristics and benefits derived from those products and services offered.
A patent is a right granted to anyone who invents a new process, machine, object or any new useful invention, to whom is allowed exclusivity for the exploitation of the invention during a specific amount of time. Afterwards, when the patent expires, the invention passes into public domain and anybody can use or exploit the technology, without the need of obtaining permission from its creator.
Trademarks and Patents Register
Panama represents at the international level a strategic point for the registration of trademarks and patents. The Colon Free Zone, situated in the Atlantic entrance of the Panama Canal, constitutes the second biggest duty free zone of the world, importing goods mostly coming from Asia: Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and then mostly re-exporting them to Latin American countries and the Caribbean. This important role as distributor of the Americas makes the Colon Free Zone become a hot place for counterfeit merchandise. For this reason, registering trademarks in Panama is very useful so that the national authorities can fight those piracy acts with efficiency and strength.
At RIOS, LEON & ASOCIADOS we have a wide experience in this field, preparing and filing applications and registrations in the General Office of Industrial Property and the National Copyrights Office. Also, we give counselling regarding the development and protection of trademarks, procurement of the good will and the economic exploitation of the protected ideas.
