SO IT WAS IN QUITO ASIPI’s energy reaches the Middle of the World

From June 4 to 6, around 300 attendees gathered at the JW Marriott Hotel in Quito to explore the intersections between intellectual property and the financial world, addressing topics such as the valuation of intangibles, the financing of projects based on intellectual property, the impact of artificial intelligence on IP and its monetization, among many others.

Our Seminar entitled “The Financial World of Intellectual Property” stood out for the topicality and practicality of the topics discussed, the high level of the speakers, the social activities that were framed by the hospitality and warmth of the Ecuadorians, thus ensuring that ASIPI Quito remained in the memory and in the hearts of all.

previous days

As is customary in our events, prior to its formal inauguration, ASIPI’s Board of Directors held important meetings. For two days, the members of the Executive Committee met to present their respective management reports, discuss pending issues and make decisions on the functioning of the Association.

On Friday, the ASIPIPROBONO Commission and the ASIPIEMPRENDE Program carried out two training activities for entrepreneurs as well as pro-bono clinics together with the Quito Chamber of Commerce and the EDES Business School with the participation of Raquel Toñánez, Margarita Zambrano, María Camila Flórez, María del Pilar Troncoso and Morena Zavaleta. Ecuadorian members Daniela Moreira, Daniela Roman and María José Peñaherrera also collaborated with the clinics.

ASIPI Past Presidents present at the event, Martín Michaus, María del Pilar Troncoso, Juan Vanrell and Elisabeth Siemsen, also had their space to meet and talk about the future of the Association, and then had lunch with the members of the Executive Committee.

That same Saturday, along with the Court of Justice of the Andean Community, we organized the Forum “Ibero-American Jurisprudential Dialogue on Intellectual Property” to share the content of the most relevant rulings on trademarks, patents and copyright that have recently been handed down in Ibero-America and the European Union.

In the afternoon, the ASIPI Wine Club organized a wine tasting and pair ing at the Club Sociedad Union Quito. It was a gathering of friends, with wines from the Old and New Continent.

Sunday, June 4

Lots of activities took place on Sunday 4, beginning with the meeting of the Administrative Council in which the Executive Committee informed the National Delegates about the status of the projects and programs underway and they, in turn, commented on developments in their respective countries regarding IP. A heartfelt tribute was paid to members Carlos Terra of Venezuela and Elizabeth Flores of Guatemala, who passed away in recent months. ASIPI’s Past Presidents, leaders of the Working Committees/Programs and Commissions, as well as other members participated in this meeting.

After the lunch offered to the participants of the Administrative Council meeting, the 25 Working Committees, the 2 Programs and the 5 Special Commissions held a meeting. For almost two hours, these groups, which we call the “driving force of ASIPI”, shared, exchanged and laid the foundations for the successful completion of the work plan entrusted at the beginning of this administration.

At the same time, a meeting with the members of the ASIPIACADEMIA Council and the coordinators of the courses that will be offered during this second semester of 2023 was held. Experiences of previously taught courses were shared to better adapt them to the expectations of the participants.

The last meeting of the day was the Mentoring Program in which, under the organization of the Social Action Committee, first time attendees to our events as well as new members, met with members of the Association who served as mentors. In an atmosphere of relaxation and camaraderie, ASIPI President Enrique Diaz gave a warm welcome to the “ASIPI family” and invited them to get involved with all of the Association’s programs and activities. This space was also used to hand out certificates to new ASIPI members.

To close the day, a pleasant inauguration cocktail was offered in the gardens and main cloister of the emblematic San Francisco Convent with a typical Ecuadorian dance show.

Monday, June 5

Afterwards, the opening ceremony of the Seminar took place with the words of Cecilia Falconi, President of the Host Committee of the event, who gave a warm welcome to her country. Enrique

Diaz, President of ASIPI, presented a detailed report on the last few months of work in which the Association has made incursions and promoted major projects and participated in various international forums.

Monday, June 5 / Academic day

The academic day began with the panel “Demystifying IP Finance” in which a tour was made on how the financial and business sectors visualize these intangibles, how they are approached from the perspective of international taxation and inter-company relations. Allison Mages, Head of the Intellectual Property Commercialization Section of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) (Switzerland), Santiago Rojas, Northern Regional Manager and Representative of CAF- Development Bank of Latin America in Peru (Peru), Sergio Gutiérrez Muralles, General Director of Corporate Financial Services (Guatemala), and Enrique Díaz, President ASIPI (Mexico), was the moderator of the panel.

The topic “Brand Valuation: Which methodology is the best?” was led by Flavio Arosemena, President of Arosemena Burbano & Asociados (Ecuador), Ricardo Martínez Ros, General Director of Smart Value (Mexico) and Nuria Marcos Herrezuelo, General Director of Pons IP (Spain) as panelists under the moderation of Yolianna Arosemena, Partner/Regional Director of Intellectual Property of Central Law (Panama). This panel discussed the most used methodologies, what they measure, which one they would recommend according to the segment and the reasons for valuing brands.

The last panel of the morning was entitled “Negotiating with Influencers” in which the panelists talked about their experiences and recommendations in the hiring of influencers and of these with a potential client, aspects of due diligence, negotiation of remuneration, among others. This panel included the participation of José Antonio Arochi, Associate of Arochi & Lindner (Mexico), Allison Rothman, Founding Partner of Rothman IP (United States) and Jennifer Malloy, Consultant Venable LLP (United States).

Monday afternoon’s academic session began with the topic “Big Brother is watching: IP and International Taxation”. Geovanna Cerda Mosquera, Senior Manager of GPA Consultores (Ecuador), Marcelo García Sellart, IP. Associate Consultant at Gordó Llobell (Argentina), Claudio Hernández, Partner at Palacios y Asociados -TPS (Guatemala) and Luis Kudo, Managing Partner of Kudo y Niño de Rivera Abogados, S.C. (Mexico) as moderator, presented the BEPS project (OECD) and its lines of action.

Carlos Bosch, Head Legal Counsel at Bia Foods Investments, Inc. (Guatemala), Justin Schwartz, Managing Partner at Impaqto Capital (Ecuador), John Orcutt, Professor of Law at the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law (United States) and moderator Rosane Tavares, Partner at Kasznar Leon - ardos Propriedade Intelectual (Brazil), participated in the panel on “The IP Lawyer in Acquisitions and Mergers” . Relevant aspects to be considered in the role of the IP lawyer as advisor in the processes of acquisition or merger of IP intensive companies were addressed.

Aware of the importance of IP education from an early age, the ASIPIEDUCA Program offered a talk at the educational institution “Liceo Internacional” in Quito with 80 children between 10 and 12 years old. Jacqueline Moreau, President of the Program, Leonardo Cordeiro and Johana Aguirre, members of the Program, participated in this activity.

Adiscussion on alternative dispute resolution methods was also held between ASIPI’s Mediation, Conciliation and Arbitration Committee and various centers and professionals from Quito. Present at this meeting were Sujey Torres, SENADI Director; Pablo Solines, President of AEPI; Carmen Robayo, AEPI Mediation Center; Francisco González, CAM Director of the Quito Chamber of Commerce; Patricia Vera, Director of the Ecuadorian American Chamber; Paul Corral, Director of the Chamber of Industries and Adrián Molleturo, Director of Cuenca Chambers; Estuardo Jáuregui and Juan Felipe Porta, President and Secretary of ASIPI’s Mediation, Conciliation and Arbitration Committee, respectively.

After an extensive academic day, the Local Law Firms offered a “Popular Ecuadorian Party” with typical food and dances, fireworks show and all the best of Ecuadorian culture.

Tuesday, June 6

Participants got off to an energetic start on Tuesday 6th with the training class organized by ASIPIFIT

Tuesday, June 6 / Academic day

The first panel of the morning was “IP as a facilitator of Banking Credit” with Julio Laso, Vice President Legal & Compliance of Banco Pichincha (Ecuador), Gabriela Contreras, Regional Corporate Manager of the Legal Area at Luminova Pharma Group (Guatemala), Allison Mages, Head of the Intellectual Property Commercialization Section of the World Intellectual Property Organization - WIPO- (Switzerland) and Gonzalo Luzuriaga, General Manager of Luzuriaga & Castro Abogados (Ecuador) as moderator.

The topic on the “Impact of AI on IP and its monetization” was given by Matt Finkelstein, Partner at ArentFox Schiff (United States), Ryan Vacca, Professor of Law at the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law (United States) under the moderation of Marco Antonio Palacios, ASIPI Director 1 (Guatemala). This conference dealt with the role and proper scope of IP law in relation to AI systems and their generated works.

Matt Finkelstein, Partner at ArentFox Schiff (United States), Palisa Kelley, Head of Legal and Business Affairs at HarbourView Equity (United States) and moderator Federico Fischer, Associate at Fischer Abogados (Uruguay) discussed the sale of music catalogs and the reasons for this particular interest as well as the effect of streaming on authors and performers and the trends in this type of “music-financial” operations.

The panel entitled “Transactions Involving Intellectual Property - How are they evaluated by the competition authorities?” included presentations by Mauricio Velandia, Counsel of Falconi Puig Abogados (Colombia), Carlos Esguerra, Founding Partner of Bermúdez y Esguerra (Colombia) and moderator María Rosa Fabara, Managing Partner of Bustamante Fabara (Ecuador).

To close the academic day of the Seminar, Marc Gericó, Managing Partner of Gericó Associates Legal Marketing S.L. (Spain), Fernando Peláez Pier, CEO of LexLatin (United States) with Juan Guillermo Moure, Partner of OlarteMoure (Colombia) as moderator, participated in the panel “How much is a Law Firm worth?” and presented practical experiences in the valuation of legal practices and the aspects that are specially considered to arrive at concrete numbers and proposals.

An important meeting was held at the National Service of Intellectual Rights (SENADI) where Margarita Zambrano and Raquel Toñánez, Secretary and President of the ASIPI PRO

BONO Commission, met with the Director General of the entity, Sujey Torres, to coordinate future activities within the framework of the cooperation agreement signed in 2021.

The closing ceremony of the Seminar was very special as the Social Action Committee, represented by its leaders Andrea Possinhas and Margarita Zambrano, presented the results of ASIPI Quito’s “One Backpack, One Opportunity” campaign, which was a success thanks to the generous contributions of the participants. A total of 142 backpacks and a significant amount of money were collected, donations that were delivered to the children of Fundación Vida en Libertad. Also, ASIPI collaborated with refreshments for the children of the foundation in a celebration in which there was no lack of smiles.

We want to thank all those who made possible this great event. To the members of the Host Committee for their time and work, to our sponsors for their support, to the administrative staff and to all the participants of ASIPI Quito.

In a pleasant reception enlivened with music and with the satisfaction of having culminated an event in which the Ecuadorians made us feel at home, we had a great closing.

Agroup of participants then embarked on the Miske Appellation of Origin Route and had the opportunity to taste the Cayambe sponge cake, the first Guaranteed Traditional Specialty of Ecuador and the Americas. See