Costa Rica and Guatemala are on the list of 23 countries that the US government considers necessary to monitor for violations of intellectual property rights.
On April 12, 2016, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) released its 2016 Special 301 Report. The Special 301 Report is the result of an annual review of the state of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and enforcement in U.S. trading partners around the world.
Competing with multinationals under DR-CAFTA requires companies to comply with all the necessary processes to protect their brands, processes and products.
The arrival of multinational companies in Central America competing in legal equality with local or regional firms as a result of DR-CAFTA, highlights gaps in legal implementation and best practices for business on issues such as the protection of trademarks and intellectual property.
The event to be held in San Jose on 3 and 4 March will address issues such as implementation of digital markets, internet commerce and protection of intellectual property online.
The third International Congress on Electronic Commerce Laws will be held at the Bar Association of Costa Rica, and will address issues related to law in light of new commercial and financial relations being handled electronically.
In Costa Rica the Secured Transactions Law which authorizes the use of intellectual property as collateral for loans will take effect in May 2015.
In an opinion piece published in Elfinancierocr.com, attorney Gabriela Miranda explains that in addition to allowing the use of movable property such as agricultural machinery and crops, the law has a broader scope, "...
Lego International has won a lawsuit against Lego PZ Multiservicios S.A. of Costa Rica for the misuse of the toymaker's brand name.
Lego International won the lawsuit filed against the corporation Multiservicios Lego PZ Costa Rica for the unauthorized use in its company name, of the trademarked name Lego. The Register of Legal Entities at the National Registry ordered the administrative detention of the corporation.
Increased prices are predicted along with less variety in drugs and agrochemicals because of the progressive protection of patent rights.
Román Macaya, director of the National Chamber of Generic Producers (Canaproge) explained that at the end of this decade the market will feel an impact on the protection of branded drugs and agrochemicals. The changes will occur due to the agreed extension of rights in the FTA between the U.S., Central America and the Dominican Republic.
Globalization increases the need to protect the brand names of products which have become an increasingly valuable asset allowing effective communication with customers.
"One of the characteristics of brand names is to be something distinctive, a vehicle of communication between the seller and the consumer, which can become a very valuable asset," says Bernal Molina, from the Industrial Property Department at the National Registry Office.
The country is in the list of eight nations where the most copyright violations occur.
A report by the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), a coalition of seven associations of more than 3,200 companies representing copyright industries in the United States, singles out Ukraine as the country where the most intellectual property rights are violated, and then points to Costa Rica from the group of seven countries that follow Ukraine in the intensity of these violations.
Companies are placing increasing emphasis on the value of their intellectual property, so it is necessary to design the right strategy to protect it.
The first recommendation in an article by Paola Castro Montealegre in Elfinancierocr.com, stresses how important it is that "intellectual property must be protected at the start of the business and not at the stage of the final product, which is often when we care about our protection, regardless of the fact that products or creations have probably been known about by several people and are potentially vulnerable, and we might even have intellectual property assets already on the market and positioned, without it being possible to protect them, because it hadn’t been thought about from this perspective. '
President Chinchila has vetoed the law decriminalizing the photocopying of books.
The bill passed by the National Assembly, which sought to eliminate the penalties of up to five years in prison and fines for reproduced textbooks, has been vetoed by President Laura Chinchilla.
Justice Minister Fernando Ferraro said that "... the project is not necessary as the country's legislation does not seek to send book copiers to jail.
The law in Costa Rica that decriminalizes the business of photocopying disrupts the foundations of intellectual property rights, with the only justification for accessing protected property being the lack of economic means.
The first paragraph of the preamble to draft law No. 17,342, already approved by the Costa Rican Assembly and awaiting enactment or veto by President Chinchilla, shows that it is clearly a concept that degrades the legal structure of the nation: "the end justifies the means ":
The Chamber of Information and Communication Technologies and the American Costa Rican Chamber of Commerce have requested that the bill be vetoed by President Chinchilla.
An article in Elfinancierocr.com echoes the troubles caused by the adoption of the law which "allows without sanction copying of music CDs and movies or counterfeit software", in the national and creative sectors, and in the union that groups together American companies in the country.
The Legislative is moving forward a bill that will decriminalize the business of photocopying of books, on the basis of academic needs.
The aim of the "Law to protect the right to education against the excesses of intellectual property law" is to prevent owners of photocopying businesses from being affected by the secondary legislation of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States on intellectual property protection.
Greater respect for property rights leads to faster economic development
The order of the countries in the 2011 International Property Rights Index (IPRI) report is less important than the conclusions that are possible to obtain by analyzing correlations between the parameters that comprise the index and economic development.
The 2011 report highlights the overwhelmingly positive relationship between economic prosperity, measured by per capita GDP, and the protection of intellectual and physical property rights.
The Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica passed modifications to intellectual property laws.
Specifically, they modified article 2 of the Intellectual Property Law, and article 8 of the Intellectual Property Observance Law.
This concludes the implementation agenda of the Free Trade Agreement between the United States and Central America.
Nacion.com reported that “these modifications increase fines for intellectual property violations and clarifies concepts related to phonograms and interpretation of musical works”.