Investor’s Guide
Importance of Intellectual Property for Direct Foreign Investment in Guatemala
Alejandro Del Valle Asociado
In order to be able to understand the importance of Intellectual Property in general, it is important to point out that many studies have been done on the relationship between the protection of intellectual property and the economic development of countries. It has been possible to conclude without a doubt, that those countries with the highest development indicators protect intellectual property through sound and well-structured policies and that there is even a direct relationship between development and wealth and the protection of these rights. This is very important for Guatemala because for several years we have been losing ground and "points" in studies and reports that evaluate the hits and misses of each country for the protection of intellectual property, such studies being very important for foreign investors who are deciding in which countries to invest in various ways. In this sense, Costa Rica has been an example for progress on these issues in the region since it has been the most consistent country in better coordinating local IP institutions for the correct application
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of the rules. These institutions in Guatemala are: 1) Judicial Body (2) Ministry of the Interior 3) Customs Authorities (4) Public Ministry 5) Registry of Intellectual Property 6) Related Ministries such as Ministry of Health or Agriculture. The above-mentioned authorities are responsible, each within their powers and objectives, for providing legal certainty and protection to the various types of intellectual property, such as trademarks, patents, copyrights or business or trade secrets. The above is worth mentioning since at AMCHAM´s Intellectual Property Committee, of which I have been part of for more than 10 years, we have constantly worked on making the above mentioned authorities generate joint work protocols through which a culture of protection for intellectual property can be generated in an orderly and coordinated way so that it can be effective and in case of an infringement, the authorities can be rapidly coordinated to protect these rights. The latter is very important since, as the saying goes, “Time is Money.” Time is extremely valuable in the protection of intellectual property
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