Patents, Industrial Designs, and Trade marks

Intellectual property is one of the most important assets of a company. The patent system allows an inventor to prevent a third party from using patented technology and to thus recover the significant investment made in carrying out the inventive activity before the grant of the patent.

Industrial design is another type of intellectual property which, unlike a patent, is not protected as a result of it having functionality in the field of the art, but rather as a result of making the products more aesthetically appealing. This therefore leads to the owner being granted exclusive use of the industrial design, giving him a significant competitive advantage on the market.

Distinctive signs, particularly trade marks, confer upon their owners the exclusive right to use the sign for commercial purposes. In this sense, trade mark owners can prevent third parties from using, without their consent, trade marks or other signs that may lead to confusion as to the origin of the goods or services. A trade mark is protected because it provides market transparency as it indicates the corporate origin of the goods or services. This makes it possible for the entrepreneur that owns the trade mark to succinctly summarize certain properties of their goods or services, particularly their quality, in the trade mark

HERNANDEZ MARTI has extensive experience in providing advice relating to Spanish and EU trade marks and trade names, as well as defending them before courts specialising in said matters.

• Providing advice on whether a sign is suitable for registration as a trade mark
• Issues with other identical or similar trade marks or trade names
• Trade mark and trade name assignment and licensing agreements
• Internet domain names infringing a trade mark right
• Trade mark disputes
• Invalidity of trade marks

HERNANDEZ MARTI offers services relating to providing Spanish and EU industrial design advice, as well as defending them before the relevant courts.

• Providing advice on how to suitably protect aesthetic creations
• Industrial design creation and licensing agreements
• Industrial design disputes in both civil and criminal proceedings

HERNANDEZ MARTI offers consultation services for the protection of inventions both when the inventions are qualified to be protected as a patent, and when it is a utility model. We are also experienced in handling invention-related disputes.

• Providing advice on the protection of inventions
• Technology transfer and licensing agreements
• Disputes relating to the infringement of protected inventions