A beauty entrepreneur started a small business selling makeup and creams. However, as his business grew, third-party posts offering the same products with the same name and logo of his company began to appear on social media. These were counterfeit items that imitated those of the entrepreneur.
According to Cynthia Sequeira, an expert intellectual property lawyer, protecting intellectual property rights in Guatemala is of utmost importance, since these become the most important asset of a company, regardless of its size. “It not only happens to large companies, but also to entrepreneurs who do not give importance, from the beginning, to the protection of their brand,” he commented.
In The Talksegment of Guatemala Doesn’t Stopbroadcast by Guatevisión every Monday at 10 p.m., the importance of registering business trademarks in the country was addressed. In addition to Sequeira, Sara Larios, vice minister of Registry Affairs of the Ministry of Economy (Mineco), and Estuardo Jauregui, president of the Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property for Central America and the Caribbean, participated in the space.
Sequeira added that registering brands in the Intellectual Property Registry does not prevent third parties from using a brand, but it gives owners legal protection mechanisms. “If we do not make the producer or the companies register their brands, they cannot ask or demand the exclusive use of them. The only way to confront third parties to be able to demand exclusivity is with the registration itself,” he explained.
According to Vice Minister Larios, during 2024, 9,960 trademark registrations were reported and in 2025 the figure grew to 16,600. During the first quarter of 2026, according to the official, 3,300 registrations are recorded.
For Jauregui, the problem is aggravated due to the lack of business culture in registering their brands. “Registration is the first step, but it is not the entire solution. What it will do is make it easier to defend your rights. If you are not registered, I would tell you that you are lost. If you are registered, you have a very high possibility of winning,” he indicated.
He added that counterfeiting and piracy affect both the economy and society, although their effects vary depending on the type of product. “A piece of clothing is not the same as medicine,” he said.
Jauregui explained that, in the case of counterfeit medicines, the impact can represent risks to people’s health. “That is where the Government has to act more severely to protect,” he said.
Lack of specialized justice
Jauregui assured that the cost of registering a trademark is lower, compared to the expenses involved in defending it in court. “The advice I tell all my clients, small or large, is: the sooner, the better. Really, the cost of registration is marginal, it is small. The cost of defense, really, is very large. It is a trial,” he said.
He explained that, although the administrative process is carried out before the Intellectual Property Registry, subsequent conflicts must be resolved in civil, commercial or criminal courts. “Once the trademarks are registered, they have to go to court and these are expensive and slow,” he mentioned.
He added that one of the problems is that there is no specialized justice. “One of the defects is that we do not have specialized justice. Our intellectual property issue goes to normal civil and commercial matters,” he indicated.
He added that, although there are some specialized prosecutor’s offices, the judicial system still needs to be strengthened to deal with this type of cases. “It is cheaper to defend. They will not be able to take away your rights, but the difference in the cost of defending those rights is abysmal,” he said.
Streamlining of procedures
Vice Minister Larios explained that different actions are currently being promoted to streamline and facilitate the procedures related to trademark registration. According to him, although there are efforts to modernize the system, there are deadlines established by law that must be met within the registration process. “There are deadlines established by law that prevent this registration from being done in a couple of days. There are important deadlines, such as the opposition deadline for trademark registration, which is two months,” he explained.
Larios added that the analysis of the requests must be carried out rigorously, since it also seeks to protect the rights that are already registered. “Intellectual property rights are monopolistic, since, by having a trademark registered, this prevents other people from using that distinctive sign to identify similar products or services,” he noted.
The official highlighted that the Intellectual Property Registry is advancing in a digital transformation process aimed at providing greater agility and transparency. Among the actions implemented, he mentioned the strengthening of the notification center, which informs users daily about the progress of their procedures.
“Previously, users had to physically arrive to notify themselves at the registry. Currently, we have a notification center that informs users every day about the next steps of their process, to be able to speed it up,” he stated.
Likewise, he indicated that the electronic window now allows procedures to be carried out completely online. “All procedures can now be done electronically, without having to physically go to the registry,” he commented.
Larios also pointed out that a little over a year ago a mediation center was inaugurated to resolve conflicts related to intellectual property, without the need to go to court. “This mediation center seeks to offer a friendly and peaceful space to resolve conflicts and avoid that burden on the courts of law,” he explained.
According to the vice minister, currently users can create an account on the digital platform, send documents electronically and receive notifications about the progress of their files in the same way. “What we are doing is transforming the entire internal part of the system to be able to have not only more certainty, but also more transparency and more agility in the procedures,” he stated.
Necessary changes
Jauregui pointed out that, although progress has been observed in intellectual property in Guatemala, there are still aspects that require strengthening. “We see important progress, but I think there is still work to be done. The Government knows it, the private sector knows it, and the associations know it,” he expressed.
Among the main challenges, the need to strengthen education on intellectual property, both in entrepreneurs and in companies, stood out. According to him, many companies start commercial campaigns or product launches without having previously managed the protection of their brands.
“Many times companies do not know the importance of intellectual property protection. They are going to come out with a campaign and two days before they are notifying the lawyers to see how they can provide protection,” he commented.
Jauregui explained that some Central American countries already have automated processes for renewals and other simpler procedures, which is why he considered that Guatemala should continue advancing in technological matters. “The goal is to put ourselves on par with those countries,” he indicated.
He also pointed out that the objective is to achieve a completely digital platform that reduces the use of paper and allows processes to be carried out electronically. “Today the world is digital. Most of the procedures are done electronically and that is what we have to do,” he stated.
Curbs investment attraction
Sequeira pointed out that the protection of these rights also influences the attraction and permanence of foreign investment in the country. As he explained, there are at least three necessary conditions for direct or indirect foreign investment to find guarantees to operate in Guatemala. “The first is to have a solid framework, an adequate legal framework so that the investor sees his intellectual property protected,” he stated.
Sequeira indicated that Guatemala currently has an Industrial Property Law, its reforms, regulations and standards related to copyright. However, he considered that there are still opportunities for improvement within the current legal framework.
The second condition, as detailed, is that the registration processes can be carried out in an agile and efficient manner, because many investments depend on the registration times of trademarks and other rights. “Many investments depend on that registration time and as long as this process is very long, that can harm us in the launches of products or services,” he explained.
He added that the third necessary element is to have effective mechanisms to defend intellectual property rights once registered. “It’s not just about having the rights, it’s about being able to defend those rights,” he expressed.
In that sense, he pointed out that the country requires courts and judges specialized in intellectual property to address these types of conflicts. “We need fully competent courts and judges to defend everything related to intellectual property,” he said.
Vice Minister Sara Larios added that coordination is also required between different public institutions and the private sector to strengthen the protection of these rights. “Coordination is required with other institutions that fulfill a very important function, such as the Intellectual Property Prosecutor’s Office, which investigates crimes that infringe these rights,” he noted.
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