Latin America - Case studies

HEARTZ Tools is a Portuguese SME in the health sector. In 2018, the company was granted a patent in Portugal for a patient monitoring system that incorporates a range of sensors attached to the patient, linked to a mobile device. Building on this, HEARTZ filed a utility model application in 2020.

PAS, a software association in Poland, organized a mission to Brazil for Polish SMEs interested in expanding into the Brazilian market. Ten SMEs from the association joined a trade event focused Software in Rio de Janeiro.

Summer Jewels is a high-end quality jewellery SME based in Estonia, supplying the European market, and most recently, Latin America. Following their success in Latin America, the owner of Summer Jewels contacted the Helpdesk to learn what they needed to know before expanding into Costa Rica

Giancarlo is an Italian entrepreneur, owner of the company ScifiHaus. He is a fan of Sci-Fi videogames and has developed a space-themed Hotel in which clients may spend the night in rooms inspired by famous sci-fi scenarios. Giancarlo has a few hotels in Italy and Spain and has decided to expand.

The Swedish start-up Poseidon owns the word trade mark in Sweden. They specialise in AI-based B2B manufacturing services. The company uses a specially trained chatbot to meet the needs of its customers and has a particular method for carrying out its activities.

MagicIAn is a software development SME based in Portugal, specialised in artificial intelligence for the automatic conversion of text to 3D video for audiovisual content. The company owns the figurative trade mark MagicIAn, registered in Europe, USA and Korea.

ITalent, an AI-powered company, specializes in helping businesses find qualified talent faster. Based in Slovenia, with operations in Chile, ITalent approached the Latin America IP SME Helpdesk after realizing that their existing word trade mark might be deemed generic.

Gauntlet, a Greek SME with over 15 years of experience in Central America, specializes in hygiene products like disposable gloves for the healthcare industry, with a solid presence in countries such as Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Paraguay, expanded into Brazil in 2016.

BellRing, a Czech Republic-based SME, is a digital assessment platform aimed at improving the assessment process in schools. After registering their trade mark in Czechia, the company set its sights on international expansion, focusing on Latin America.

Sweet Child is a Belgian SME that creates custom-designed baby bottles shaped to replicate the mother’s breast, aiming to support breastfeeding and reduce nipple confusion in infants.

The Croatian SME “SUCHOC”, a producer of artisanal chocolates, filed a trademark application before the National Service of Intellectual Property of Bolivia (SENAPI), in order to protect its brand “KEKSI” in Bolivia – but did so without conducting a prior trademark search.

Erik, a young Spanish chef living in Madrid, had been carrying out gastronomic and scientific research related to the properties of Bolivian highlands food products, and announced that he had finished his first draft of a book on the subject.

Uniseliz, SARL, a French SME focused on the importation of alcoholic beverages, signed an international sales agreement with a Cuban export company. The Cuban company agreed on selling a large number of “Sierra Madre” rum bottles. The trade mark of this rum was registered in the European Union.

A young group of Dutch researchers created a start-up company called “LinkBro” within the field of telecommunications. The core of the business focused on a new payment technology for mobile phones, which was protected after filing an international application in the Netherlands Patent Office.

Bavarian Designs GmbH is a German SME involved in the design of containers in the food industry.

TeleHolly is a Mexican television network broadcasting content as regards celebrities, music, television and entertainment in general. This company owns the well-known trade mark TeleHolly, registered in Mexico for entertainment, television programming and telecommunication services.

GIS – Gestão Integrada de Seguros, is a Portugal-based SME with more than 30 years of experience in the development and commercialization of software products for the insurance market.

ARMAGE2 is a Spanish company that produces farming mechanical tools and owns patents and utility models concerning some of their technology, which they have registered in Europe, Argentina and Brazil. Their Argentinean supplier offered to start distributing two patented products in Uruguay.

The Spanish SME Tortillas Bravas, S.L. owned the word trade mark LA GRAN BRAVA in Spain. The company decided to register this trade mark abroad too, in particular in Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Chile.

An Italian company, Franklin & Marshall S.R.L., decided to enter the Peruvian market and applied for the registration of its trade mark MMM&F, for clothing, footwear and headwear (Class 25).

Tour S.L. is a Spanish company that provides tailor-made fishing tours in Spain.
After a year of good results while running the business in Argentina, there was an increased interest in the fishing tour package offers in the Patagonian region.

A well-known German manufacturer of automotive headlights, “Xell”, identifies its products with the trade mark “OW” (OktoberWagen). A Brazilian company named Yois, engaged in the production and distribution of automotive parts, began negotiations with Xell to become the licensee of "OW" in Brazil.

Esprimere, an Italian coffee shop, has registered their trade mark ‘PronTissimo’ (word mark) and their logo (figurative mark) with their national IP office. The company contacted local IP lawyers from Mexico, Venezuela and Colombia, since they are planning to expand to these three countries.

In 2018, Illusion Machine detected an increasing number of cases of manipulation of trial versions of its software products in Argentina that were committed by small film production companies.

GalakTic, an Irish SME engaged in the beverage industry, has been successfully commercialising their drink in Europe for 5 years. They have decided to launch their product in Mexico. The distinctive shape of the bottle and the brand name used in Europe are to be used in Mexico too.

João is a Portuguese blogger who has gained increasing reputation in the media sector. He publishes content, such as images, texts or videos on his blog under a Creative Commons BY (attribution) – NC (non-commercial) licence.

A+B, a Spanish SME, developed a new dating app that promises to match its users with their significant other with 99 % accuracy. The app has been a huge success in the European market, mostly due to the algorithm designed by in-house software engineers

Global Cautious was an Irish company dedicated to training in occupational hazards, delivered through its own platform. The SME was contacted by a potential Colombian partner and started prior negotiations, but the Irish company wanted to secure their IP before taking any further step.

Paolo Vecchio is a Maltese entrepreneur with the intention of opening an eco-lodge business in Nicaragua with a local partner. Given how “green” the Central American country is, his idea was to give it an evocative theme of the Lord of the Rings.

Fusion is a German SME that has created a notebook, the pages of which are made from a polyester component instead of wood. This enables the user to write, scan with a mobile, upload the content directly to the cloud and erase the pages with a damp cloth.

CHAIN O’BLOCK is a Belgian start-up that had a patent pending in Belgium for a device that used blockchain and artificial intelligence as well as IoT technology, with use in the automotive industry.

Mr. A is a talented Italian lamp designer, owner of a lighting company called “Exclusive Designs”. In 2019, Mr. A designed a collection of three lamps inspired in the city of Buenos Aires for a well-known Argentine decoration store. Following his lawyer’s advice, he registered the three lamps.

BLISSAKKO is a French SME active in the field of healthy living created by Lucas, a French lifestyle coach, and Juan, a Spanish entrepreneur. Their story started in 2010 when Lucas developed a 30-step method to live a more mindful and healthy life and published a book describing it in English.

QTechnology is a Portuguese SME engaged in selling software. The company, interested in improving one of its software products, contacted a Brazilian university, whose Department of Computing has established a strong reputation in artificial intelligence.

Underground Kingdom S.L. is a Spanish company involved in the audiovisual business. The company filed an application to protect their trade mark in Europe and it was granted in July. As a part of their latest documentary, they wanted to include Brazilian music artists.

Bravka, a Slovenian SME in the agriculture sector, developed an innovative technology to protect crops from frost. In 1991, one of the affected farmers decided to create a method to control frosts more efficiently and economically. The resulting machine was inspired by a hard frost that affected pla

Pickup’s World, Ltd. is an SME established in Dublin and founded by three industrial engineers, who shared a common passion: vehicle designing.

RedSquare, a video game company headquartered in France, created the now famous psychological horror game “Visage” back in 2017.

Lope & James SPRL, a Belgian prêt-à-porter company, launched their collection ‘Montagnes’. This collection contained a 2-D monogram incorporated into textiles produced on an industrial scale.

A Portuguese entrepreneur engaged in negotiations with a Brazilian company in pursuit of a joint effort in an innovation-related project.

The EU SME was aware of the importance of IP protection, and decided to register the German SME ‘Fordermorder GmbH’ company's name and logo as trade marks, as well as the name of
their star product “Zeit”.

Based in Cork, Brenan LTD is an Irish manufacturer popular among the English and Irish consumers for its kitchen tools. The company is commercialising a new product, which is expected to be released in Mexico soon through a local distributor.

The French company “Louis Pingouin”, famous for its leather accessories (purses, shoes, wallets among others) has registered its trademark in almost all Latin American countries, including Colombia.

Freiheit, a German SME in the communication sector, filed a patent application before the European Patent Office (EPO) in July 2018. The patent, which presented an innovative communication device with unique interoperability functionalities, was successfully granted.

BleuBlancRouge, a French pharmaceutical SME, owns multiple patents, one of which was registered in Brazil through the Patent Cooperation Treaty. BleuBlancRouge has now signed a patent licence agreement with a Brazilian company and has decided to include an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) clause

The German SME Recht attended the 2018 Bernie Fit edition in Brazil, an annual trade fair where sporting goods and fitness are exhibited. Among other products, Recht presented a new Pilates reformer machine: the Zen model.

"La Galguita" is a Spanish SME that sells its line of cosmetics: make-up, skincare, hand creams and body creams. After its success in Europe, the brand decided to target Latin America, starting with Argentina. For that purpose, the SME filed for trade mark registration in this country.

Boost2Party S.L. is a Spanish SME dedicated to online selling of costumes, accessories and party decorations. With their own online shop and running in 10 European countries, they decided on expanding to Latin America.

Mercadodepulgas.com is a successful Spanish start-up that runs an online platform where users can buy and sell second-hand products. Sofas, bikes, electronic devices and the like are exchanged in the platform.

ZenZit is a Spanish medium-sized company in the toy sector that has a strong presence in Europe and several Latin American countries through distribution agreements.

Trisk Motor AG., a German SME producing spare parts for vehicles, is introducing its business in the Latin American market. In order to do so, they registered their trademark “TriskMotor” (Wordmark) in Peru, Argentina and Brazil within Class 12 of the Nice Classification.

Oval Shoes is a European SME based in Sweden and specialised in the design and manufacture of high-quality shoes. Largely, their success has been due to the good quality of their shoes, achieved with the use of a special technique for the treatment of the leather with which they are manufactured.

Luft Solutions AG is a German company that manufactures unmanned aerial vehicles, providing technical solutions to different industries. During the last five years, the company has increased their sales of drones in South America, especially in Argentina

DynaMeds, a Danish SME that develops packaging for drugs and medicines, was willing to expand its business to Colombia, Chile and Mexico, as these markets looked very promising for their products and services.

Sam and Daisy, two young French artists, started negotiations with Cherryland, a well-known Ecuadorian company that organises outdoor activities.

Flancox, a Bulgarian company focused on food packaging products, developed a new, unique packaging with different fruit shapes. The production costs were higher than expected. Hence, the SME’s CEOs had to reduce costs in other areas, particularly in intellectual property (IP) protection.

Vittorio Brothers is a small family company located in the region of Parma in Italy. The establishment has produced Parmigiano Reggiano cheese for around a decade and they export their products to several countries, including the Dominican Republic.

Over the last years, the Spanish brewery Aqua&Terra has capitalised on the current craft beer boom in Europe by successfully producing and distributing its star brand “Veralinda".

Laranjon is a European SME operating from Italy which focuses on the fashion industry. The marketing department of the company launched the new spring-summer campaign.