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.
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. In an analysis piece by Nacion.com, the need for companies and entrepreneurs to protect the product development process, their formulation and their brands is highlighted.
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, "... it gives the debtor the opportunity to put up intangible property as collateral, among them brands in all their manifestations, trade names, copyrights, patents, licenses, concessions, royalties and other rights governed by the laws related to this matter and which liens are not prohibited. "
Signing of the treaty is aimed at improving the control of the criminal offenses committed through the Internet.
This week Panama became the second Latin American country after the Dominican Republic, to sign the European Convention on Cybercrime, the first international treaty on criminal offenses committed on the Internet.
The Mexican Institute of Intellectual Property is demanding that the FTA under negotiation include a chapter on intellectual property rights.
Miguel Ángel Margáin, director of the Mexican Institute of Intellectual Property (IMPI), made a request to "include" one more chapter "on intellectual property in each treaty to be signed, as occurred in the FTAs signed by Mexico with the United States and Canada in 1994 ", reported Prensa.com.
It takes from six months to a year to complete the process for registering a patent for a brand with the Guatemalan Intellectual Property Registry.
Various sectors in Guatemala agree with the estimate. "Although there is a commitment to the free trade agreement between Central America and United States (CAFTA), which entered into force in 2006, Guatemala has not signed", reported Prensalibre.com.gt.
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.
We welcome to the new Panamanian law on copyright protection. It is the beginning of the return to one of the basic tenets of social life: Do not steal.
Much has been written about this law in recent weeks, but is Mary Triny Zea’s article "A Copyright law Like Never Before", published on Monday 1st October in Prensa.com, which unleashes these reflections.
The 510 bill, already approved on its first reading in the Assembly of Panama, allows ex-officio actions and imposes heavy fines for those who violate copyright.
The bill responds to provisions of the trade agreement with the United States, whose implementation requires adapting various Panamanian regulations, including those relating to copyright.
Finally, copyright on the phrase registered 15 years ago by tourism businesses in Miami, now belongs to the State of Panama, who will use it as a brand slogan for the country.
Panama has acquired all rights to the phrase "Where the world meets", which will be used to promote a national brand that will identify foreign products and services offered by the nation.
In July 2010, Mexican authorities withheld 250 containers with more than $ 5 million in goods brought from Asia by Guatemalan importers.
The cargo, originally from China, Japan and Taiwan and headed for the port of Quetzal in Guatemala, was seized by Mexican authorities at the ports of Lazaro Cardenas and Manzanillo in Mexico.
According to Luis Ronaldo Coronado, president of the Shipping Association of Guatemala (ASONAV), a Mexican unit investigating crimes against copyright and intellectual property decided to retain the goods, arguing suspicion of smuggling and violating international treaties on intellectual property.
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