A network to attend: calling SMEs

No many times we receive news from Costa Rica and every time I see something in this country I get very excited [perhaps it’s because of its richness in fauna and flora: I definitely would like to visit the sloth sanctuary and indulge myself with their famous pineapples).

Sloths do tango.

An invitation was in my inbox from ELAN (European and Latin America Technology based Business Network) which I have the fortune to work with early in the year. For the 19th to the 21st September 2016 ELAN will be in San Jose, Costa Rica. The workshop is a great opportunity for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to “create strong networks and durable relationships and business opportunities characterized by being technology and innovation related.” The flyer notes that “ICT is one of the most dynamic technological areas in Costa Rica. It includes more than 900 companies, 95% of which are SMEs, becoming an interesting sector which important challenges related to international collaboration and partnership.”

In regards to intellectual property, the Latin American IPR SME Helpdesk will be present in the event. Day 2 will see Silvia Salazar speaking on how to manage intellectual property in the ICT sector focusing on patents in Central America. The event is free of charge.

More information here.

MARQUES trade mark coexistence workshop comes to Buenos Aires

It's not often that this English-speaker would dare post anything on this blog in Spanish, but here's his big chance to do so. MARQUES, the European trade mark organisation, is running a Coexistence Agreement Workshop next month in the lovely, vibrant city of Buenos Aires. The date is Thursday 5 March 2015 and the venue is the office of Marval, O'Farrell & Mairal, Leandro N. Alem 928 7th Floor, Buenos Aires, Argentina. for Anglophones the news is that the aim of this workshop will be to sensitize participants in commercial and legal issues that arise when a potential conflict of two or more business with similar marks can be avoided by negotiating a contract Priority Rights ("Agreement coexistence"). However, for Spanish lawyers, MARQUES announces the following:

Taller sobre Acuerdos de Coexistencia
Jueves 05 de Marzo 2015
Marval, O'Farrell & Mairal, Leandro N. Alem 928 7th Floor,
Buenos Aires, Argentina

El objetivo de este taller será el de sensibilizar a los participantes sobre las cuestiones comerciales y jurídicas que surjan cuando hay un potencial conflicto de dos o más negocios con marcas similares que podría evitarse mediante la negociación de un contrato de Derechos Prioritarios ("Acuerdo de coexistencia").

El taller tiene un precio de 25,00 EUR.
Este taller se celebrará en Español

The registration fee for this meeting is €25. The seminar will be conducted in Spanish. You can check out the programme here and access the registration details here.

If you can't wait till March, there's a MARQUES Coexistence Agreement Workshop coming up in Mexico in a week and a half (details here).

MARQUES coexistence workshop reaches Mexico

Since this weblog has just touched upon the subject of trade mark coexistence agreements (in Peru), it is relevant to add that this very topic is the subject of a forthcoming event in Latin America: it's a workshop held under the auspices of MARQUES, the European trade mark organisation. According to the MARQUES Class 46 weblog,

"Launched a couple of years ago as nothing more than an experiment in showing how trade mark negotiation skills can be enhanced, the MARQUES Trade Mark Coexistence Agreement Workshop has grown wings and now it has flown all the way to Mexico.

This challenging yet enjoyable workshop will take place later this month, on Thursday 26 February 2015, at the Hotel Fiesta Inn Insurgentes Sur, Mercaderes 20, San José Insurgentes, Mexico City 03900, Mexico. It will, appropriately, be conducted entirely in Spanish. To remind readers of what the workshop is all about, MARQUES tells us that

The objective of this workshop will be to sensitise participants to the commercial and legal issues that arise when the potential conflict of two or more businesses with similar brands and trade marks may be avoided by negotiating a prior rights agreement (‘coexistence agreement’).

The registration fee for this meeting is a mere €25, which makes it an absolute bargain. Further information and registration details can be obtained by clicking here".