By: Sebastián Rodíguez
The registration of trademarks and other distinctive signs within a company can often be considered a headache, because although it is true that this issue seems complicated just by thinking about it, in the end, it is the best way to protect our company and brand, from usurpers, who only seek to take advantage of the image that we have built in the market. To profit from them, illegally, in different ways.
The usurpers aim to obtain the greatest possible profit within certain countries or regions, registering other people’s brands, and posing as “owners or licensees thereof”, and thus deceive unsuspecting clientele; to such a degree that, when the legitimate owner of the usurped trademark has clear and specific intentions to enter the country or region, he is forced to carry out extrajudicial actions such as paying “to recover his own trademark” or “pay for the right.” of use, of its own brand”, and thus avoid administrative registration and judicial processes (the latter being cumbersome and time-consuming) that in the end would end with the return of the brand to the true owners.
That is why the timely registration of trademarks takes on great importance in different areas such as Commercial Law or Intellectual Property, because in this way it prevents usurpers from having the opportunity to profit illegally with something as valuable as our brand.
El Salvador has the Law on Trademarks and Other Distinctive Signs, this Law lays the foundations to generate an environment that facilitates all natural or legal persons to protect their brand and as an example of this, we identify article 5 of this, which generates security so that national or foreign companies can register their brands and thus guarantee their due protection.
Once registration has been made, it is important to maintain a constant and tenacious inspection within the market; because the usurpers, in their incessant search to generate some arbitrary and illegitimate profit, introduce fraudulent products with graphic, ideological or phonetic characteristics very similar or the same, but with manufacturing and origin different from that of our brand. The entry of this type of malicious merchandise is regulated in El Salvador through the Crimes of: a) Violation of Copyright and Related Rights and b) Violation of Commercial Distinctions; provided for in articles 226 and 229 of the Penal Code.
In conclusion, the best way to protect our brand is to be clear about our territorial objectives, so that we can begin to manage the administrative registration processes; Likewise, after registration, always maintain constant monitoring of the market; so that the battle can be won against the usurpers, who in bad faith will continue to seek illegal profits from the most valuable treasure of every company, its brand.
For legal advice on this topic, do not hesitate to contact us at: nadya@romeropineda.com.
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