Eguía Marcas y Patentes is taking on the challenge of going international. With 75 years of history, it is the leading firm by volume of trademark registrations outside Buenos Aires. Its headquarters are in Córdoba, and it has offices (franchises) in Rosario, Mendoza, Buenos Aires, La Rioja, and Tucumán.
At home, the firm is a strong player: in a market with hundreds of competitors, Eguía ranks fifth nationally. In 2021 alone, it filed a total of 1,485 trademark applications. “We have been in the national top 10 for 20 years,” says Javier. Of its 12,000 clients, 8,000 are active. The rate at which it brings in new clients is impressive: 2.2 per business day. If these numbers impressed you, there are many more to discover about this firm, which aims to join the ranks of the most important in the world.
“We have turned 75, an achievement that makes us very proud.” That is how Javier Eguía, managing director of the firm specializing in trademark and patent registration, opens the interview. Javier represents the third generation of this family business founded by his grandfather, José María Eguía Zanón.
The Córdoba office is the headquarters, but the firm has offices in Buenos Aires, Mendoza, and Rosario, as well as representation in La Rioja and Tucumán.
The next step planned for this year is expanding into Neuquén. “What we do is so specialized that it is a business that works in large cities. If we opened in Río Cuarto, it wouldn’t work. Where we do want to gain a foothold is Patagonia, which is very strong. Neuquén is still on our to-do list,” Eguía reveals. “Another place we owe ourselves is Salta,” adds Guillermo Felippa, the firm’s managing partner for the past 25 years.
Trademark registration, the heaviest weight on the scale
Trademark registration accounts for 80% of Eguía’s business. The remaining 20% comes from patents. But back to trademarks…
Altogether, Eguía’s clients have been registering their trademarks not only in Argentina but in 120 other countries, and the firm forms strategic alliances there to make that possible. “We really stand out in registering trademarks abroad. We have clients with registrations in 120 countries, so we need to hire those services from local professionals,” Javier explains. Wineries and pharmaceutical laboratories lead the companies interested in international registrations.
Every year they travel to international conferences and keep a close eye on what is happening around the world. “Our plan is to keep growing internationally. We see that Argentine business owners are looking at foreign markets. So we keep working to strengthen our network of correspondents abroad,” says Guillermo. Speaking specifically of the trademark registration business unit, 50% of the firm’s billing comes from trademark registration in Argentina and the other 50% from trademarks registered abroad. “Our goal for the next 2 or 3 years is for 80% of billing to come from trademarks we register abroad and 20% from domestic ones,” the management team says.
Can this unit become even more dynamic? How?
We asked Verónica Cima, partner at Eguía and head of the firm’s legal department.
“In January 2018 there was a major change in the opposition procedure. Previously, in the process of acquiring your right, when a third party filed an opposition, you had to go to court. But since 2018, these disputes are no longer decided by the courts; they are resolved within the trademark office itself. That first dispute is settled within the office. And if either party considers that its rights have been harmed, it can of course go to court, but no longer as the first instance. The truth is that this has sped up the timelines a great deal. And it can speed them up even more.”
Patents, Argentina’s unfinished business
First fact: the most developed and wealthiest countries in the world are the ones with the most patents.
Second fact: the companies with the most patents are the most valuable on the market, and their valuation often depends on how much time is left on a patent’s term (since patents last for a limited period, after which the inventions enter the public domain).
“The number of patents we file in Argentina is the same as in 1970, unlike other countries such as South Korea, which has multiplied that figure 300-fold,” the firm’s director explains.
Even so, patents are a relevant business unit for Eguía, and the firm always has ideas in the pipeline to boost this segment. That is why we are working to take Eguía Marcas y Patentes abroad, aware that it will take a reasonable amount of time to do it the way we want.
The keys to Eguía Marcas y Patentes’ success
Harmonious teamwork. You can sense it as soon as you walk into the firm. “We work hard here, and without a good working environment it would be impossible,” says Javier.
Felippa describes another key: “The idea is for our work to be professionally strategic. It is a proactive service that listens closely to the client and works with a preventive approach,” he explains.
Eguía is a member of the Franchise Chamber (Cámara de Franquicias) and also belongs to the Services Companies Cluster (Cluster de Empresas Servicios), a value chain of 20 service companies. The cluster is about to launch a quality seal for companies of this kind. “The idea is to raise the bar a little, in the sense of services that are audited and accredited, but without it being as cold as the accreditations that metalworking companies have to go through, for example,” Felippa concludes.
The dream and plan of taking Eguía Marcas y Patentes abroad is gradually starting to take shape. We want to show our strong commitment and our work beyond Argentina as well.
