Juan Antonio Pittaluga, on CNN

By Pittaluga Abogados

Juan Antonio Pittaluga, founding partner of Pittaluga Abogados, spoke on news television program "CNN Dinero" about trademark and patent registration in Latin America.

"The importance of trademarks and patents" was one of the topics discussed on Tuesday 1 on "CNN Dinero" (CNN Money), the weekend show that breaks down business news on "CNN En Español", CNN´s 24-hour Spanish language television news channel which broadcasts to the United States and Latin America.

Mario González, the program host, spoked about the importance for Latin America of trademark and patent registration, practices that "somehow measure the development of a society." Referring to a statistical study, González said that Latin America historically slow trend of trademark registration "seems to have reversed" in 2014 as registrations grew by 2.5% throughout the region. To analyze and explain the issue, González talked with Juan Antonio Pittaluga.

The following is a review of the interview:

Why is important for a country to register trademarks and patents?

Because somehow it is an index of how the economy and the dynamism of trade and industry works for that country. A trademark is the sign that distinguishes a new product or a new service that the country incorporates. A patent is a technology that is registered to have an exclusive economic benefit for a specific period of time.

You are talking about different things here...

Absolutely. A trademark is one thing and patents are other. Trademarks distinguish a product or service from the competition. A patent is an invention that is registered exclusively for the benefit of its future development.

They are different things, and they have also grow differently in the region. Why are patents registrations low in Latin America?

It is correct. Trademarks registrations have had an increase of 15% in the last five years in Latin America. However patents registrations are nearly stagnant. Note that in Latin America we have about 60,000 patent applications per year against 600,000 applications in the United States. That gives us a picture of a big difference: if 600,000 patents are registered in the US and 60,000 in Latin America, the region´s development is certainly small. In addition, from those 60,000 applications, 80% come from Brazil and Mexico.

That speaks of a poor science and technology health on Latin American countries?

I would say that in Latin America there is a stalemate of patent registrations because there is no support for research and certainly no support for the production of inventions. The result is that from those 60,000 patent applications an 80% belongs to companies outside of Latin America. Just a 15% or 20% belong to Latin American companies. This speaks of a big technological dependence of Latin America from other countries.

Nevertheless, it not necessarily has to do with the size of the country or the market. There are smaller Latin American countries than Brazil and Mexico that have high trademark and patent registrations.

Right, for example on trademarks applications we have Chile, that has increased significantly in the last five years the number of trademarks they register. Why? Because the government has given support and dynamism to local products, as the wine industry, and that movement and growth attracts the development of new products, and therefore new trademarks. Chile is an example of a medium-sized country that has developed many new trademarks.

This numbers are essential to know the level of support from our governments to science, technology, services, but also entrepreneurship, were I think we are in debt.

Surely, we are in debt because often the entrepreneur who has an invention has trouble to develop it. For the production of that invention he needs the support of investors and he can't get it.