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Education: Salesian School; "Hermanos Amoros" High School, Villena, Alicante, Spain. Licentiate in Law, University of Alicante, Spain. Master´s Degree in Trademarks, Designs, Patents and Copyright (Spanish, European Community and International); Magister Lvcentinvs, University of Alicante.

Professional Experience: Private practice in Alicante, Spain; Internships: Calderón -Arnedo & Mira-Ros Law Firm, Alicante, Spain Bustamante & Bustamante Law Firm, Quito, Ecuador. Professor Magister Lvcentinvs, University of Alicante, Spain .

Memberships: Section for Attorneys Specialized in Intellectual Property Law, Alicante Bar Association; Board member Law Students Association of Magister Lvcentinvs, University of Alicante, Spain.

Education: American school of Quito; Miami University Law School; Catholic University of Ecuador (Doctor of Jurisprudence, 1.978); Southwestern Legal Foundation; Dallas, Texas (Fulbright Scholarship); Institute for International and Foreign Trade Law, Washington DC; Georgetown University Law Center, Washington DC (Masters in Comparative Law); Internships: Chadbourne, Parke, Whiteside and Wolff, New York; Bomchill, Castro, Goodrich, Claro, Lavalle et Asocies, Paris; Academy of International Law, The Hague, Netherlands; IDLI International Development Law institute (Transfer of Technology), Rome.

Professional experience: Private practice as Licentiate (Quito), 1.974-1.978. Professor of Intellectual Property, Catholic University of Quito; General Manager of LIQUIGAS S.A. 1.982-1.987; Senior Partner, Bustamante & Bustamante, 1.987 - Present; President of the Foundation of the American School of Quito, 1.990-1.995.

MEMBERSHIPS: Multilaw, (Multinatinal Asociation of Independant Law Firms), Chairman Executive Council (1.995 - Present); International Trademark Association (Co-chairman Andean Pact Subcommittee of the Treaty Analysis Committee); Inter-American Bar Association; International Bar Association (Country Representative for Ecuador); Ecuadorian Bar; American Society of International Law; AIPPI (International Association of Industrial Property); ASIPI (Inter-American Association of Industrial Property); AIJA; LAWASIA (Asia Pacific Bar Association).

B&L arises from the fusion of two continents' rich legal traditions: Europe and America, with the prestige of BUSTAMANTE and the professionalism of LOPEZ. Our goal is to provide high-quality legal services for private individuals and corporations throughout the world. We have specialized attorneys and personalized attention for each client with a team of more than 80 professionals at your service.

Unlike other law firms recently set up in Alicante operating as branch offices of law offices from different countries, B&L is the first International Law Firm founded, although not on an exclusive basis, for the processing community marks from the European Union. This allows us to guarantee our local and international clients exclusive and personalized service with highly-specialized professionals in the complex new features presented by community marks.

Our own trademark means quality and efficiency in all type of legal services backed by Bustamante & Bustamante Law Firm's 40 years experience in the legal field.

Alicante is an industrial, tourist and commercial city traditionally open to the world and Europe. It was chosen in 1.994 as one of the cities providing central offices for the European Union and houses the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM: trademarks and designs). It has become one of the main centers of concentration for intellectual property in the world and it is the undisputed European trademark capital. Soon the EU Council of Ministers shall entrust OHIM with registering community industrial designs for the European Union.

Attaining a unique interior market within the EU requires that businesses restructure their trademarks policies. Free circulation of goods and services in the heart of the EU has provided a growing number of businesses with a total European dimension for their trademark strategies.

Until the recent creation of a community trademark system, businesses had two procedures to choose from for protecting their marks in the European Union. Both were hindered by territorial limits on national trademarks rights. National procedures entailed registering and maintenance of identical marks in each country. The international procedure merely confers several national marks for countries signing the Madrid Agreement and responds, above all, to protection requirements from non-EU countries.

Community trademarks (CTM) offer their owners a single modern right effective in all EU member countries acquired via a single procedure which greatly simplifies trademark policies on an European scale. Towards this end, businesses initiate only one administrative procedure and not 15 different ones as they have been doing until now. They pay single fees and professional fees to a single representative or attorney. CTMs protect a potential market of more than 350 million consumers with huge acquisitive power. It is the ideal instrument for meeting the challenges of the EU internal market. CTMs are granted for 10 years and may be renewed indefinitely.

Furthermore, although conversion of several national marks into community marks is possible and is almost always recommended, a CTM does not mean that protection previously obtained under national or international marks has been waived, instead, it clearly improves their effectiveness and facilities procedures covering a portfolio of marks. Businesses may use the seniority of a national mark at OHIM in order to receive the same rights they would have with a national mark without paying additional fees. There are additional rights exclusive to CTMs such as the possibility of taking measures at the border of any EU country to prevent the entrance of counterfeited products into the territory of the entire community internal market.

Practically speaking, any private individual or corporation may file an application directly or through its representative or attorney. It is mandatory that businesses not registered or incorporated in an EU country be represented before OHIM by an agent or attorney.

Later rejection, expiration, or cancellation for absolute or relative reasons provided in Regulation 40/94 regulating CTMs, always allows using as grounds the right of transformation of an application for a CTM into as many national trademark applications as the number of countries where there is no absolute or relative hindrance for their registration and maintaining the initial filing date.

Application for a CTM may also be filed with a central industrial property office in a member country but the latter shall be limited to forwarding the documentation to OHIM in Alicante; whose official languages are Spanish, English, German, French and Italian.

Community Trademark Tribunals (CTT) act in litigation arising over the violation of exclusive rights granted under a CTM. The following jurisdictions may come into play:

1. CTTs in the countries where trademark violations occurred, but only for those illicit acts committed on their territory. 2. CTTs in the defendant's or, if not, plaintiff's jurisdictions, for any CTM violation arising in any EU country. 3. Spanish CTTs as subsidiaries, since Spain is the country where the central office is located, making it highly likely that the amount of litigation heard at Spanish CTTs shall be considerably higher in proportion to the others.

The CTTs applies the Law and specific procedures within its country and they hear all violations of CTMs throughout EU, and in the territory of all member countries where the resolutions they had down are enforceable. Therefore, it is sufficient to bring judicial proceedings at the CTTs for compensation of all damages incurred due to violations in the 15 countries that currently belong to EU. Rulings may be appealed to the EU Tribunal of justice (ECTJ) and pertinent State Cassation Tribunals, as the case may be.

However, requesting cancellation or expiration (except a counterclaim) or any other petition pertaining to a CTM shall take place at the Alicante Office by initiating the pertinent procedure. OHIM's decisions are heard at the Chambers of the Office itself, which provide its President with independence. Afterwards, appeals may be filed with the ECTJ in Luxembourg.

Given its undoubtable advantages, the success of the community trademark system is incredible and overwhelming. A maximum of 15.000 trademarks where predicted for the first year of the Alicante Office's operations. In 1.996, the final amount has greatly exceeded 40.000 applications filed for CTM's with the OHIM. We can confirm that the system is following a safe road towards consolidation and that businesses are perfectly aware of the urgent need to avail themselves of this novel legal instrument in order to get an edge on the competition in a single European market.

Per the Alicante's Office's own statistics on applications filed in 1.996, the largest number were from the United States of America. Up to December 15, 1.996 a total of 12.187 applications were filed by American enterprises, not less than 31.6% of total applications. Applications from non-EC member countries reached 42.56% of those filed to date. English was the language most commonly used for the procedures, followed by Spanish. Due to the technical complexity of the procedures an overwhelming majority of the applications were processed by OHIM-authorized agents or attorneys.

B&L is an International Law Firm created to provide all types of assistance for enterprises and private individuals throughout the world. Working with both European and American attorneys and correspondents throughout the world, we are able to offer our clients complete services in all areas with specialists in European, Spanish, and South American Laws concerning:

- International intellectual property procedures - International assistance and consulting on intellectual property and copyright matters; - Unfair competition; - Defense from competition; - Advertising laws; - Hiring, licensing, franchises and distribution; - Professional specialists in all areas of the Law.

From our main office in Alicante (Spain) we can represent and defend you and your business at a fair price and provide you with the best personalized legal services concerning the following intellectual property rights:

TRADEMARKS: Spain, European Union, International (Madrid Agreement), South America and the rest of the world;

PATENTS: Spain, Europe, PCT; South America and the rest of the world;

DESIGNS: Industrial and artistic drawings and models in Spain, designs in and of the EU, Nice Treaty, designs in South America and the rest of the world.

We specialists in pursuing, obtaining and defending your intellectual property rights and copyrights within the important Andean Community market (i.e. Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Perú, and Ecuador) as well as the rest of the Continent of South America.