Javier Eguía leads his firm, Eguía Marcas y Patentes, which focuses on trademark and patent registration. He is also a real estate development investor. Javier belongs to the third generation of a family that has played a leading role in Córdoba’s history and present.
Today he heads the first Córdoba firm to specialize in trademark registration: Eguía Marcas y Patentes. The business was started by his grandfather, José María Eguía Zanón. However, it was his father, Jorge Raúl Eguía Cairó, who brought him into it. Today the firm has 100,000 active clients and registers around 300 trademarks a month.
Beyond the firm, Eguía is also active in real estate development as an investor in a number of projects.
Let’s start with the basics: what is the difference between a trademark and a patent?
“A trademark is the name by which products and services are identified in the marketplace. Each of us has a name, and two people may happen to share the same one, but with trademarks there cannot be products and services with the same name. That confuses consumers. Trademarks are meant to protect consumers from confusion, and they require companies to use different marks.”
And what about a patent?
“What a patent protects is inventions. Cell phones or the electric refrigerator, for example. We are surrounded by inventions all the time, since they can be products or production processes; they are things that get invented in a factory.”
And how did you get into trademark and patent registration?
“It all began in 1947, when my grandfather, José María Eguía Zanón, who was a very enterprising man, saw that there was a need in Córdoba. Companies needed to register their trademarks without having to go to Buenos Aires, so he looked for some kind of partnership with firms there. That is how we started out as representatives of a very large firm, until we became independent and my father, Jorge Raúl Eguía Cairó, came to work with him. My grandfather moved on to other roles: he became director of the newspaper Comercio y Justicia, where my father also worked. It was a business that demanded much more time, so the firm took something of a back seat.”
When did you start working?
“Around 1990 I started my degree in Business Administration, and my father had been diagnosed with cancer, so he was very worried about my future. That’s when the firm became active again. At first he contacted a former partner with a view to working together, but she said no. He had already retired from the newspaper and decided to relaunch the firm with me. It was a very small operation; with a lot of luck, we did four or five trademarks a month.”
A somewhat difficult start…
“Even so, we got off to a fairly successful start, because Dad was very well known in the business community. He would send me to talk to companies. We grew quickly. I remember that a very important step was when we took on clients such as Vértice Musical and Salto 96, two companies that no longer exist, along with many other Córdoba companies that came to trust us. We brought in technology, which allowed us to keep growing.”
What kind of technology?
“Back then everything was done with typewriters and card files. So we traveled to Buenos Aires, because some people there had developed special software; we bought an XP computer, and I personally entered the data for all our clients, about 600 of them. It took me about two months, working day and night. Once we brought technology into the service, we were able to provide it better, and clients were happy. Referrals and word of mouth brought us many more clients. On top of that, my background in business administration and my knowledge of marketing allowed me to give the firm a much more competitive, commercial outlook.”
How did you do it?
“We were very aggressive in our communications. We did press work, we had a newsletter, and we visited every client at least once a year, always trying to stay close. We did a lot of marketing, something that is standard today but was new at the time.”
When did you take the helm of Eguía Marcas y Patentes?
“My dad passed away in 1994, and at 22 I was left in charge of the firm. It would not have been possible if my girlfriend at the time, María Verónica Cima, now my wife, had not been by my side from the very beginning. When we had just started out with the firm, she was studying law. It was another very difficult period; my dad was ill, and she was a fundamental pillar without whom what Eguía is today would not have been possible. Shortly afterward we both graduated, and since then we have been a very strong, solid team.”
Your children are at the firm now too, right?
“Yes. They are the fourth generation of the family. Nicolás and Clara are attorneys and work at the firm, building its future.”
How many registered trademarks are in Eguía’s portfolio?
“We have 100,000 trademarks with active matters, and we register an average of 300 trademarks a month, between Argentina and abroad.”
Over the years, when have the most trademarks been registered?
“Our work is always closely tied to the economy. Our clients, which are companies, only invest in new projects when the economy is doing better. When it is weak, as it is now, there is less activity. Many investment decisions have been postponed, so this will not be a good year for our professional work. These are challenging times. A trademark registration is valid for a decade. When we reach out to a client at the 10-year mark, more than once we have been unable to find the company because it no longer exists: it closed or went bankrupt. More than 50% of companies in Argentina die before they reach 10 years. The business mortality rate is terrible.”
Who are Eguía Marcas y Patentes’ main clients today?
“We have Sanatorio Allende, Hospital Privado, Amerian Hoteles, Savant Pharm, Banco de Córdoba (Bancor), and Bodegas del Fin del Mundo. We have a lot of wineries.”
Which industry stands out the most?
“The companies that register the most are pharmaceutical laboratories and wineries. We have an office in Mendoza that specializes in wineries and is very busy. Pharmaceutical companies have many trademarks for their products.”
And what do you do in the area of copyright?
“To a lesser extent, we handle copyright deposits for book authors or any other creation that requires some kind of deposit. It isn’t that common in Córdoba; it’s less than 5% of what we do.”
Besides trademarks and patents, you also have another line of business in real estate development, right?
“Yes, I’ve always been fairly restless. I made an enormous effort to promote the firm, taking part in trade fairs and traveling, but I noticed that the country wasn’t keeping pace and clients weren’t growing. This activity requires a growing, prosperous country, and there wasn’t much to invest in my own business. We felt we didn’t have much room to grow; we had hit a ceiling. So we started looking into real estate and buying a few lots, off-plan units, and apartments. Then one day, together with some friends, we decided to buy land in the south of the city and did a small real estate development.”
And that’s when you got a taste for real estate development?
“Yes. We went on to do other things; we even bought a corner lot in the north of the city and put up an office building, where we are now, and we still rent out the offices. Then we bought an apartment building on Deán Funes Street, renovated it, and sold it. After that we came in as investors in Acquavista, a residential land development on the road to Carlos Paz.”
How do you see the future of Eguía Marcas y Patentes?
“Right now we are waiting for a better moment and analyzing the situation, because in this environment there is nothing to build or invest in. We’ve put our foot on the brake. For the time being, we are very happy that our children have joined the firm.”
From golf to paella
- Name. Javier Andrés Eguía (51).
- Married. To María Verónica Cima.
- Children. Four, two of whom work with him.
- Enjoys. Golf, padel, traveling, and cooking paella.
- Profession. Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.
- Position. Director and partner.
- Company. Eguía Marcas y Patentes.
- Staff. 40.
- Contact. +54 9 351 201 7052.
Follow the digital and social channels of Eguía Marcas y Patentes: LinkedIn and Instagram.
