Region: Latin America & Caribbean

In <i>Chivilcoy Gas (Solgas) v Totalgaz Argentina SA</i>, a federal court has found Chivilcoy Gas (and its directors) guilty of infringing the trademark rights of other gas companies by refilling their trademarked containers with its own gas.

17 January 2003

The Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office is receiving mixed reaction to its proposal to join the Madrid Protocol on the international registration of marks. Some businesses see the benefit of a fast and cheap registration system, while others fear inadequate research into prior rights.

13 January 2003

US company Owens Corning has won a case before the Administrative Litigation Court in which it opposed the registration of the trade name Fiberglass Industrial y Comercial Ltda based on the argument that it is the registered owner of the FIBERGLASS trademark in Ecuador.

06 December 2002

The Administrative Court of Peru has issued guidelines regarding the cancellation of trademarks based on non-use. Among other things, the trademark owner must prove that it "sufficiently used" the mark during the three years prior to the commencement of the cancellation action.

05 December 2002

In Comercial Raymarket Limitada v America Online Inc, the Court of Appeals of Santiago has affirmed the decision given by an arbitrator under the NIC Chile arbitration and dispute resolution system ordering the cancellation of the domain name 'aol.cl'.

03 December 2002

In <i>Brother v Surlorran</i> the São Paulo Court of Appeal has ruled that despite Brazil's new Trademark Law, an unregistered trademark-use agreement may preclude third parties from importing parallel products into Brazil.

29 November 2002

Parliament has approved a new law which requires that all prescriptionsfor medicine must be made using the medicine's international non-proprietary name. In addition, pharmacists must substitute trademarked medicine with a cheaper alternative. These measures may have the effect of weakening the trademarks of large pharmaceutical companies.

28 November 2002

The National Trademark Office of Colombia has concluded that the annulmentof a trademark in accordance with Article 8 of the GeneralInter-American Convention for Trademark and Commercial Protection is the jurisdiction of the Supreme Administrative Court, not the National Trademark Office.

26 November 2002

Chile's Supreme Court has dismissed an action brought by MichelangeloSACI for re-registration of the CALVIN KLEIN trademark. Michelangelo is a clothing manufacturer which had registered and used the mark for over 20 years until Calvin Klein himself successfully challenged the registration in 1999.

21 November 2002

Cuba has passed a new trademark law as a result of its accession to the World Trade Organization and to comply with the TRIPs requirements. The new law includes a broadened definition of 'trademark', new filing and appeal procedures, and improved protection against infringement.

15 November 2002