Seminar on the New Competition Law in Guatemala

By Mayora IP

On October 29, 2025, the Guatemalan Chamber of Commerce, together with the Inter-American Association of Intellectual Property (ASIPI), held a seminar on the country’s newly approved Competition Law, enacted in November 2024 with the aim of opening markets, promoting and defending free competition, and preventing, investigating, combating, and sanctioning anti-competitive practices.

Speakers included Eduardo Mayora, managing partner of the Guatemalan firm Mayora IP; Juan José García, senior associate and member of the competition practice at the Chilean firm Guerrero Olivos; Christian Lippert, co-managing partner of the Mexican firm Galicia; and Luis Diez, partner at the Peruvian firm Diez Canseco and former president and judge of the Andean Community Court of Justice.

The Competition Law was approved after nearly 30 years of efforts, as a result of commitments made by Guatemala to the United States and the European Union. The substantive part of the law is expected to enter into force in December of next year. In that context, ASIPI, through its Competition Committee, organized the seminar, dedicating a full day to evaluating the law with input from international experts.

The goal of the event was to analyze, from an international perspective, the scope of the new law, compare relevant aspects with other regulatory frameworks, and highlight advantages, disadvantages, and practical experiences. Above all, the aim was to create a constructive space among experts, allowing them to share their “do’s and don’ts,” lessons learned, and the mistakes made in their respective countries, so that Guatemala may learn from them and avoid repeating them.

Intellectual property constitutes the set of rights that protect intangible assets, which today represent more than 50% of corporate assets in many developed countries, including Chile and Mexico, among others. Since these assets are the subject of contracts and fundamental business operations, the intersection between IP and competition is critical. This is not only due to the need to understand the value of IP when analyzing different business models and potentially anti-competitive practices—whether horizontal or vertical—but also because of the possibility of abuses of dominant position or monopolistic practices.

In this sense, intellectual property and competition are, at the same time, opposing poles: IP grants exclusive rights to encourage innovation and recognize investment in research and development, which is essential for economic growth. However, the improper use of IP rights can create dominant positions, concentrations, or abuses that affect market efficiency—the central objective of competition policy. In summary, both fields aim to promote economic development, although from different perspectives: intellectual property protects innovation through exclusivity, while competition seeks to prevent the concentration of goods and services.