Legal Update 2022

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December

Intangible Assets – Valuation of intangibles

By Sergio Queipo. 1. How much are my ideas worth? What is the valuation of intangibles? Projects are born from ideas, hence, there is always an intangible in its essence. This initial asset multiplies itself, creating many others, like trademarks, patents, industrial models, among others. These assets are usually the biggest part of a company’s […]

By Mateo Darget and Josefina Piñeiro. In this article, we comment some of the most important developments that took place during the last few months in Latin America regarding personal data protection. (i) Ibero-American Network – On September 27, the Ibero-American Data Protection Network published the “Guide for the implementation of standard contractual clauses that can […]

By Belén Sorrentino. A recent decision of the National Civil Court of the City of Buenos Aires highlighted the importance of intellectual property protection programs provided by e-commerce platforms. These programs are an essential tool in any corporate policy to fight against trademark infringement and other intangible assets. The case “Maradona Villafañe, Dalma Nerea and others […]

By Raquel Flanzbaum. In the expansion of the Madrid Union in Latin America, there are two milestones: first, the accession of the United States of America, where the Protocol entered into force in 2003, and secondly the adoption of Spanish as a working language, which came into force on April 1st, 2004, as this would make […]

By Josefina Piñeiro. As from January 1, 2023, all professional services in Chile will be subject to VAT (Value Added Tax) unless they are expressly exempted, such as education, health, transportation, taxpayers who issue charge slips and professional societies. Therefore, professional services, technical advisory and consulting services will be subject to VAT. For further information please […]

By Abril Neiman. Every year, in October, in Latin America we commemorate a date of great meaning for our culture, although few people really understand the significance of this holiday. For this reason, we take this opportunity to highlight the history of the 12 of October -specially in Argentina- and reflect on the concept of cultural […]

By Delfina Sejas and Julieta Pérez Espinosa. Plagiarism and misuse of other people’s works has always existed, but today these crimes seem to be commonplace. The biggest challenge authors face is proving plagiarism and proving who is the true owner of the work. On this occasion, we bring you some practical legal advice to strengthen […]

By Antonella Balbo y Rosario Mauro. Last November 16, the Brazilian Supreme Court issued a favorable decision on behalf of patent holders regarding patent term adjustment in Brazil, due to the BPTO’s unreasonable delay to study patent applications. It should be recalled that as a result of the Direct Plea of Unconstitutionality 5,529 (ADI) filed […]

By Antonella Balbo y Rosario Mauro Last Monday, November 7, 2022, the Brazilian Patent Office (BPTO) opened a Public Consultation regarding the 2nd edition of the Industrial Design Manual, aiming to receive suggestions from the public. BPTO Public Consultation No. 02/2022, published in the Brazilian Official Gazette refers to chapters 2 (“What is considered an […]

Diversity – October 12th: a day to reflect on cultural diversity

By Abril Neiman. Every year, in October, in Argentina we commemorate a date of great meaning for our culture, although few people really understand the significance of this holiday. For this reason, we will try to explain the history of the 12 of October. In our country, the story goes back to the year 1917, when […]

By Mateo Darget. On August 26, 2022, Provision No. 6924/2022 (“Provision”) of the National Administration of Medicines, Food and Medical Technology (“ANMAT”, for its acronym in Spanish) was published in the Official Gazette. This Provision regulates advertising aspects related to the regime of Law No. 27,642 on the Promotion of Healthy Eating, its Regulatory Decree No. […]

By Raquel Flanzbaum and Antonella Balbo On June 14, 2022, Chamber 1 of the National Court of Appeals in Federal Civil and Commercial Matters (case No. 7344/2020) confirmed a decision of the Secretary of Domestic Trade that had closed the file on a complaint for predatory practices brought by Tuteur S.A. against Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Janssen Cilag […]

By Josefina Piñeiro. In the ruling, Second Division of the Federal Court of Appeals in Civil and Commercial Matters analyzed whether the precautionary measure requested by the firm Giorgetti & Bruno SRL was appropriate or not. The plaintiff would have based the measure on an alleged transfer of ownership of the mixed sign “Los Totora” […]

By Josefina Piñeiro and Mateo Darget. Summary: In this article, we comment on the different developments that have emerged in recent months regarding international transfers of personal data. In recent months, two important developments have occurred regarding international transfers of personal data. On the one hand, US President Joe Biden signed the Executive Order called […]

By Belén Sorrentino and Sol Baudino. The Federal Civil and Commercial Court upheld the decision of the lower court, which rejected the claim filed by Mr. Diego Ezequiel Méndez seeking the revocation of the Resolution of the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI by its acronym in Spanish). The resolution refused the trademark application for […]

Diversity & Gender – What the pandemic left us and what we have learned

By Raquel Flanzbaum. Gender tells a lot about how important D&I really is for an organization. Although it is not the only factor to consider (as ethnicity, age, culture, disability and sexual orientation are other tools of analysis), in these post-pandemic days it is useful to review the gender issue in organization and what changes, […]

By Mariano Peruzzotti. A new draft bill on personal data protection (“Draft Bill”) was officially released on September 12, 2022, and individuals and organizations may submit their comments to the text until September 30. On August 2022, the Argentine Agency of Access to Public Information, supervisory authority of the Argentine Data Protection Law (“DPA”), has initiated […]

By Abril Neiman and Camila Sirianni. The Federal Civil and Commercial Court of Appeals confirmed the First Instance decision that declared the non-registrability of the descriptive trademark HEPATIC, and rejected the cancellation action on grounds of lack of use over the opponent’s trademark LORHEPATIC. After seven years, Chamber II of the Court of Appeals declared […]

By Andrea Sanchez Vicentini and Mateo Darget. The Chamber M of the Court of Appeals ordered the defendant to delete from all his devices the videos containing intimate material of the victim within 48 hours of notification. The plaintiff filed a complaint against her ex-partner at the Office of Domestic Violence (hereinafter “ODV”). There she […]

By Julieta Pérez Espinosa. In the recent case “Marketing Externo SA c. Telecom Personal SA s/ Damages” (File No. 23,837/2017) dated August 10, 2022, Chamber G of the National Court of Civil Appeals confirmed the sentence that admitted the claim for damages, for the unauthorized use of the song “Magic City” from “Tan Bionica” in an […]

By Delfina Sejas, Andrea Sanchez Vicentini and Mateo Darget. We are weeks away from the beginning of a new soccer World Cup, an event that draws the attention of millions of people around the world. Qatar 2022 will host the 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup. On several occasions, companies develop advertising campaigns related […]

Cannabis – The ANMAT approved a procedure to authorize cannabis-based medicinal products

By Belen Recchini and Antonella Balbo. On August 16, 2022, the National Administration of Medicines, Food, and Technology (ANMAT, for its acronym in Spanish), approved through Provision No. 6431/2022, the “Guide for the sanitary authorization of cannabis-based plant products and their by-products intended for use and application in human medicine” (Guide), in line with Resolution […]

By Andrea Sanchez Vicentini. A District Court in the Province of Tucumán granted a request for a preventive seizure of assets on a cryptocurrency exchange platform. The request was based on a promissory note without objection issued in March 2022 for the amount of USD 5,000 that was not canceled by the debtor. The Court […]

By Camila Sirianni and Olivia Molina. “What is the meaning of art?” The eternal question that seems to have no answer, adds a new concern to its enigma: who is the real author of an art work, is it the one who comes up with the idea or the one that brings the idea to […]

By Antonella Balbo and Delfina Sejas. In this article, we comment on a recent ruling of the Federal Civil and Commercial Chamber related to the trademark BUENOS AIRES, that analyzes common use elements and their weakness in trademark matters. Can a trademark holder have rights over a term that is considered of common use? This […]

By Delfina Sejas and Mateo Darget. On August 13, 2022, Córdoba´s Judicial System (from now onwards, “the System”) stopped working after receiving a cyberattack. As a result, the authorities filed a criminal complaint and the Cybercrime Prosecutor’s Office began to investigate the case. The attack was carried out by means of a “malware”, type ransomware. […]

By Amalia Prieto and Sol Baudino. On November 3, 2021, the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI), decided to declare unfounded the opposition formulated by CHOCOLATE COLONIAL S.A. (Op. N° 623.815) against the Trademark application submitted by RAMDEL S.R.L. in class 30. Initially, RAMDEL S.R.L had applied for the aforementioned mixed trademark in order to […]

By Delfina Sejas and Andrea Sanchez Vicentini. In August, the Agency for Access to Public Information announced that it will begin the process of reforming the Data Protection Law No 25.326 which was enacted in 2000. To that end, it was announced that they will offer the possibility of new spaces for debate with public […]

NFTs – “The art of copying” in the digital world: Non-fungible tokens vs. fashion companies.

By Paula Caraffa Morando and Sol Baudino. Big changes in different areas of our society are occurring abruptly, and neither the fashion nor the art industries are immune to this wave of transformations. The combination of technological development with art, resulted in what is known as crypto-art. In order to avoid counterfeits, this new artistic […]

By Mariano Peruzzotti and Mateo Darget. On June 28, 2022, the Supreme Court of Justice rejected a ruling that had admitted the right to be forgotten in a claim filed against Google. Previously, the Court of Appeals had ordered the search engine to proceed to de-index certain contents referring to events that had occurred more […]

By Julieta Pérez Espinosa. On July 5, the new national palliative care law was passed in Argentina (Law No. 27,678). Its purpose is to ensure the patient access to comprehensive palliative care benefits in the public, private and social security spheres, and support for their families. With 218 affirmative votes and one negative, the Chamber […]

By Josefina Piñeiro. In the case “Page Poma, E.N. c/ ALTOS LAS HORMIGAS S. AVIYC s/ cease of opposition to trademark registration”, Chamber II of the Civil and Commercial Federal Court analyzed the confusion of trademarks belonging to different classes of the international nomenclature. The plaintiff had requested the registration of the trademark “HORMIGA NEGRA” […]

By Josefina Mortola. In the Case “SPEED PUBLICIDAD SACI C/ CISLAGHI, ADOLFO ALBERTO S/ APEL. ADMINISTRATIVE RESOLUTION” (Case No. 1806/2021) dated March 10, 2022, Chamber I of the Civil and Commercial Federal Court of Appeals analyzed the introduction of new evidence during the filing of the Direct Appeal. The dispute began when Speed Publicidad Saci […]

By Abril Neiman. On June 13, 2022, the National Chamber of Civil Appeals made a judgement in the case “C., A. v. E., A. O.” (object of the claim: damages), file No. 13119/2021/CA3, where the decision made by the judge in the first instance was confirmed. Said decision had rejected the request made by the plaintiff. […]

By Belén Sorrentino and Camila Sirianni. The Federal Civil and Commercial Court upheld the decision of the lower court that ordered the cease of use of the trademark “PERLAS” and the compensation of the damages caused to the owner of the trademark “PERLAS DEL MAR” (Chamber II, “Despo Jorge Eduardo v. Agronor S.A. seeking the […]

By Belen Recchini and Antonella Balbo. Last July 5, 2022, the National Seeds Institute (INASE, by its initials in Spanish) issued Resolution No. 260/2022 (Resolution) authorizing the legal purchase and sale of cannabis seeds for medicinal use in our country within the framework of Law Nº 27.350 on Medicinal Cannabis. According to this new regulation, […]

By Rosario Mauro. As of July 1st, 2022 Argentina has begun implementing WIPO Standard ST.26, simultaneously with all Industrial Property Offices. The main purpose of this change is to provide a uniform format across all patent offices for better accessibility, classification and preservation of the information. The new standard will apply to all patent applications filed […]

Diversity – Chile joins the list of Latin American countries where the same-sex marriage law has been passed

By Abril Neiman. It has been a long time since Latin America has started its journey towards the recognition of the LGTBIQ+ community rights. Nonetheless, there is still a long way to go. The most recent progress in the region took place in Chile, where the Congress passed Law 21,400[1] in December 2021, regulating the […]

By Raquel Flanzbaum. In the expansion of the Madrid Union in Latin America, there are two milestones: first, the accession of the United States of America, where the Protocol entered into force in 2003[1], and secondly the adoption of Spanish as a working language, which came into force in 2004[2]. During the meeting held on […]

By Fabiana Pettersen. The name of a project is the first step toward its own identity. The brand name makes the project unique. That is why at Ojam Bullrich Flanzbaum we do not take the choice of a brand name lightly. As Jorge Otamendi states in Derecho de Marcas (Trademark Law), the essential function of […]

By María Luisa Santa María. On May 9, 2022, Law No. 21,355, also known as Short Law, entered into force in Chile. The Short Law introduced long-awaited reforms within the industrial property system. The following are amongst the most relevant amendments to the patent regime: Provisional patents: Inventors, universities, research centers and companies that cannot […]

By Paula Caraffa Morando and Sol Baudino. GIBSON and FENDER are trademarks that identify the guitars that have become iconic in the music industry. Apart from the wordmarks GIBSON and FENDER, their logos with their particular typography are also very characteristic: Their fame was earned throughout a long path, which is reflected both in the […]

By Rosario Mauro. This article refers to the countries of the region that did not subscribe to the PCT Treaty, the consequences for applicants and some important considerations when establishing the patent strategy in LATAM. As known, the main goal of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) is to facilitate the filing of patent applications internationally […]

By Andrea Sanchez Vicentini, Belén Sorrentino, Delfina Sejas and Mateo Darget. We summarize some of the latest developments on personal data protection that took place in different countries of Latin America over the last months. Brazil On February 10, 2022, the National Congress enacted the Constitutional Amendment 115 of 2022, which aimed to recognize personal […]

Cannabis – Regulatory framework for the development of the medicinal cannabis industry in Argentina

By Belen Recchini. On May 5, 2022, the Chamber of Representatives of the Argentine Republic passed the bill that establishes a regulatory framework for the chain of production, industrialization and commercialization of the cannabis plant, its seeds and its derived products, for industrial and medicinal use –including scientific research–, thus promoting the national development of […]

By Mariel Chichisola y Antonella Balbo. Nowadays, the corporate business conception is understood as a much broader vision that differs from the traditional one, including certain aspects that are turning out vital. Consumers’ priorities have shipped their course, and so did companies’ priorities. The high valuation showed by consumers for brands that seek to cause […]

By Mariano Peruzzotti and Belen Sorrentino. The Argentine Agency for Access to Public Information (“AAPI”) published its annual report highlighting the activities rendered during 2021. The AAPI is the supervisory authority of the Personal Data Protection Law, the Do Not Call Registry Law and Access to Public Information Law. We briefly comment on the most important points of […]

By Mariel Chichisola y Abril Neiman. Although for several decades we have experienced continuous technological developments, there is one in particular that stands out as the great revolution of this generation: the metaverse. Probably at some point, we have all heard about this new phenomenon; however, there is still a lot about it that is […]

By Raquel Flanzbaum. Greenwashing, the practice of appearing to be environmentally friendly when in fact the enterprise making the claim is polluting it, has increasingly drawn the attention of IP specialists in Argentina. This behavior has not only affected the fashion industry but other fields as well, as we shall see below. We will comment on […]

By Mariano Peruzzotti and Belen Sorrentino. On October 6, 2021, Resolution 1033/2021 of the Secretariat of Domestic Trade (“Secretariat”) was published in the Official Gazette. It established the Minimum Mandatory Quality Parameters for Remote Attention and Communication Services to be provided by certain suppliers of goods and services. On May 3, 2022, Resolution 425/2022 was published in the […]

By Camila Sirianni and Mateo Darget. In re “MS ESTHETIQUE S.A. c/ Martín Mirta Susana” (case No. 3639/2011), dated February 24, 2022, Chamber III of the Federal Civil and Commercial Court of Appeals ordered MS ESTETIQUE S.A. to cease the use of the trademarks “MS” and “MS ESTHETIQUE”, for the infringement of Mrs. Martin’s exclusive […]

By Mercedes Bullrich and Olivia Molina. We´re all familiar with the famous Road Runner character, that fast, vivacious, bluebird that continually frustrates the coyote’s efforts to catch him, and his characteristic BIP BIP sound, owned by Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. This is what the entertainment giant alleged when opposing the BIP BIP! trademark application. What […]

By Mariano Peruzzotti and Andrea Sanchez Vicentini. The Federal Court in Contentious Administrative matters No. 12 of the City of Buenos Aires rejected an injunction petition in the context of a class action introduced by Fundación Vía Libre and the Observatory of Argentine Technology Law against the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC, in Spanish). […]

Implementing Regulation on the Front-of-Package Labelling Law

By Mariano Peruzzotti, María Luisa Santa María and Antonella Balbo. On March 23, 2022, Decree 151/2022 (the “Decree”), which regulates the implementation of Law 27,642 on the Promotion of Healthy Eating, also known as the Front-of-Package Labelling Law, was published in the Official Gazette. This new legislation provides, among others, the obligation to display nutritional […]

By Mariano Peruzzotti and Belen Sorrentino. On March 17, 2022, Resolution 139/2022 of the Ministry of Security was published in the Official Gazette. This new regulation created the High- Tech Cybercrime Investigation Center (in Spanish “Centro de Investigaciones del Ciberdelito de Alta Tecnología)) within the framework of the “Program for Strengthening Cybersecurity and Cybercrime Investigation”. Resolution 139/2022 sets […]

By Mariano Peruzzotti and Andrea Sanchez Vicentini. On March 25, 2022, the European Commission (“EC”) and the United States announced that they have reached an agreement on a new Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework that would allow the international transfer of personal data. The agreement seeks to encourage transatlantic data flows and addresses the concerns raised by the EU […]

By María Luisa Santa María and Josefina Piñeiro. In re Westrock Shared Services LLC v. West Pharmaceutical Services INC[1], the Third Division of the Federal Court of Appeals in Civil and Commercial Matters decided on the dismissal in limine of the direct appeal against the resolution issued by the National Directorate of Trademarks of […]

By Mariano Peruzzotti and Belen Sorrentino. The Federal Social Security Court No. 10 of the City of Buenos Aires authorized the first seizure of the digital wallets of a taxpayer who registered a debt with the Federal Tax Authorities. At the beginning of February 2022, the Federal Tax Authorities (in Spanish, Administración Federal de Ingresos Públicos) included the […]

By Mariano Peruzzotti and Andrea Sanchez Vicentini. The Court of Appeals in Civil matters of the City of Buenos Aires (“Court of Appeals”) condemned several important radio, television, and digital media companies for infringing an individual’s privacy rights by broadcasting his images obtained in the context of a private meeting. The plaintiff filed a complaint against these companies […]

By Raquel Flanzbaum and Belen Recchini. The Ministry of Health of the Argentine Republic, in its capacity as implementing authority of Law No. 27,350, called MEDICAL AND SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION OF THE MEDICINAL USE OF THE CANNABIS PLANT AND ITS DERIVATIVES, has just issued Regulation No. 673/2022 to guarantee the treatment of registered patients in the […]

By Mariano Peruzzotti and Mateo Darget. In the last few days, a well-known software developer and technological solutions company suffered a security incident. The event was caused by an unauthorized access to the company’s source code. According to reports, the incident was committed by the LAPSUS$ group, a cyber-hacking organization that has recently carried out similar attacks on […]

By Mariano Peruzzotti and Andrea Sanchez Vicentini. On February 1st, 2022, the Court of Justice of the Province of Salta granted an Habeas Data remedy aimed at removing plaintiff’s police records. The plaintiff filed an Habeas Data remedy against the Police of the Province of Salta in order to obtain the removal of police records concerning in which […]

New director appointed for the Argentine Agency for Access to Public Information

By Mariano Peruzzotti and Mateo Darget. On March 9, 2022, by means of Decree 110/2022, Mrs. Beatriz de Anchorena was appointed as Director of the Agency for Access to Public Information (“Agency”), supervisory authority of the Personal Data Protection Law, the Do Not Call Registry Law and the Access to Public Information Law. As we commented in the […]

By Mariano Peruzzotti and Belen Sorrentino. During the first months of 2022 the Agency of Access to Public Information (AAPI) imposed sanctions to different organizations for violations of Personal Data Protection Law No. 25,326 (“PDPL”). Below we will briefly comment each case: Electricity provider The claimant requested an electricity provider to remove his personal data as the company […]

By Mariano Peruzzotti and Mateo Darget. On February 24, 2022, the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Argentina (in Spanish, Banco Central de la República Argentina, “BCRA”) adopted a series of measures to improve the security of digital wallets. Through Communication “A” 7462 and Communication “A” 7463, the BCRA established new technical requirements for Payment Service […]

By Camila Sirianni and Antonella Balbo. The influence of celebrities on consumer behavior is based on marketing strategies that are essential to companies. In this way, a brand is associated with the values or qualities of a celebrity. The purpose is to “humanize” the brand, linking the values represented by the celebrity with those that the […]

By Mariano Peruzzotti and Andrea Sanchez Vicentini. During February 2022 several regulations issued by the Ministry of Security and the Chief of Cabinet of Ministers, respectively concerning cybersecurity and IT-related matters were published in the Official Gazette. Below, we will briefly comment the main aspects of each regulation: Resolution 75/2022 – Ministry of Security On February 15, 2022, […]

By Mariano Peruzzotti and Belen Sorrentino. In the past few days, one of the most important e-commerce platforms in Latin America suffered a security incident. This breach could have compromised the personal data of approximately 300,000 users. According to reports, the platform’s source code was subject to an unauthorized access. The company informed that according to an initial […]

Argentina: the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) has issued the first decisions on trademark cancellation and lapsing

By Raquel Flanzbaum. On December 29, 2021, the first administrative resolutions were published in the Trademark Bulletin, where the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI, after its name in Spanish) decided substantive issues related to the invalidity of trademark registrations. The 2018 legal reform had entrusted the INPI with the cancellation of trademark registrations (invalidity and […]

By Mariano Peruzzotti and Mateo Darget. The Chief of Cabinet proposed a new candidate for the position of Director of the Agency for Access to Public Information (“Agency”), supervisory authority of the Personal Data Protection Law, the Do Not Call Law and the Access to Public Information Law. The appointment of a new director is pending since […]

By Mariano Peruzzotti and Mateo Darget. Introduction The National Registry of Persons (“ReNaPer” as it stands for its acronym in Spanish) approved on January 4, 2022, through Rule 1/2022 its Personal Data Protection Policy (“Policy”). The purpose of the Policy is to safeguard and protect the right to privacy of individuals whose personal data is processed by […]

By Mariano Peruzzotti, Mateo Darget and Andrea Sanchez Vicentini. The Argentine Consumer Protection and Arbitration Agency (in Spanish, Dirección Nacional de Defensa del Consumidor y Arbitraje en Consumo, “Agency”) imposed a sanction to a worldwide leading online messaging service platforms for considering that it violated the terms of Consumer Protection Law No. 24,240 (“CPL”). The fine amounted […]

By Rosario Mauro. The Argentine Patent Office published CIRCULAR No. 1/2021 which states that, in accordance with the provisions of the Committee on WIPO Standards (CWS/5), as of January 1st, 2022 sequence listings must be submitted in XML format according to WIPO Standard ST.26. Standard ST.25 will continue in force for applications filed before January 1st, […]

By María Paula Giannetti and Josefina Piñeiro. On January 5, 2022, Resolution No. 2/22 was approved, which enables the possibility of registering from 1 (ONE) to 3 (THREE) characters under the “.ar” zone. NIC Argentina —National Internet Domain Registry Directorate— is a body dependent on the Legal and Technical Secretariat of the Presidency of the […]

By Mariano Peruzzotti, and Mateo Darget. On December 14, 2021, the Civil and Commercial Court of San Isidro in the Province of Buenos Aires rejected a request for an abbreviated proceeding aimed at enforcing repayment of a loan agreement signed electronically. The ruling highlighted the need for a digital signature to ensure the authorship and integrity of […]

By Juan Carlos Ojam and Antonella Balbo. On January 7, 2022, Resolution 26/2021 (“Resolution”), which was issued by the National Institute of Viticulture (“NIV”) on December 22, 2021, came into force after its publication in the Official Gazette. The Resolution provides for new labeling requirements applicable to domestic trade and exportation of wine products. The Resolution sets forth […]

Legal Update 2022