We cover all IP fields: patents, trademarks, industrial designs, copyrights, trade secrets, franchise, domain names, technology transfer, litigation. A more detailed list of services currently provided can be found on our site: www.hugosilva.com/en/.

The way in which we distinguish ourselves in the provision of IP advice is through the consideration of – if possible – of all aspects of the questions under analysis and the proposal of distinct strategies to overcome the difficulties and problems of each aspect, with respective advantages and drawbacks.

Our current workflow looks like somewhat sophisticated and voluminous interconnected spreadsheets. IP issues are most diversified. A reasonable portion relates to Patents, Trademarks or Designs prosecution issues in Brazil.

They are: brand protection, investigation, strategy and watch services and unfair competition. We think this is so because the commercialisation and competition became stiffer and with this, efforts to trade had to become stronger originating more conflicts.

The main challenges in safeguarding IP arise from the lack of knowledge of Law, fastness in the action of the Judiciary and its extreme slowness in general.

Among several other cases, we had one a couple of years ago wherein someone was abusively using a domain name of one of our clients. We took appropriate measures and in some months we entirely won the case.

In South and Latin America challenges and complexities arise from the different Laws applicable in each of these countries, distinct judges’ actuation in IP cases due, at least in part, to their lack of legal knowledge and some excessive freedom for illegals to act.

They are of an outmost importance for the definition of assets, conflicts, indemnifications etc.

We are very much open in general to conferences, webinars etc. of many kinds. Whenever is requested, we assemble special approaches directed to specific events.

Not so many, anyway the surveillance for new Laws and regulation must be permanent.