María del Pilar López Q

Practice Areas

Intellectual Property and Lifesciences Law

Career

María del Pilar López is a distinguished legal professional renowned for her exceptional expertise in the field of intellectual property. She has dedicated her career to safeguarding and maximizing the value of her clients’ intellectual property portfolios. With a keen eye for detail and a deep understanding of administrative and judicial processes, Mrs. López offers invaluable guidance to clients seeking to protect their intellectual assets.

Maria has crafted enforcement strategies for multiple Fortune 500 companies, integrating comprehensive market investigations and tailored training sessions conducted in collaboration with Custom Agencies to combat counterfeit goods. She has also spearheaded initiatives addressing intellectual property violations on social media platforms, facilitated civil judicial actions including injunctions, and drafted cease-and-desist letters. Additionally, Maria has significantly contributed to enhancing the companies’ trademark portfolios by successfully registering new trademarks in the CAM region.

Her contributions to patent law and regulatory compliance for a prominent European pharmaceutical company further exemplify her profound impact on the intellectual property landscape. María provided specialized advice to a client in the biotechnology industry, addressing their unique needs related to product scope, regulatory approvals, and patent analysis. She also played a pivotal role in the prosecution of a groundbreaking patent invention by 2020 Nobel Prize winners in Chemistry.

In addition, María has performed exhaustive reviews of Costa Rican data protection law to assess whether artificial intelligence services comply with local regulations. She provided strategic advice to make the necessary amendments to ensure compliance. AI and related technologies present several legal challenges that need to be addressed to ensure that they are developed and deployed responsibly and ethically.

She began her career as a lawyer in the corporate department at Costa Rican firm, and subsequently assumed the direction of the intellectual property department in 2006 until July 2, 2021.

Professional Memberships

Costa Rican Bar Association

International Trademark Association (INTA)

Inter American Association of Industrial Property (ASIPI)

Costa Rican - American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) - IP Committee

Chamber of Commerce Costa Rica

Association of National Professionals in Intellectual Property in Costa Rica (APPICR) – Vice-president (2010- march of 2012)

International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) - KnowledgeNet Chair (2017-2019)

Association of National Professionals in Intellectual Property in Costa Rica (APPICR) – Secretary (2019 to date)

Member of International Bar Association (IBA)

Publications

New Legislation Eliminates Criminal Actions for IP Enforcement published in the INTA Bulletin on November 15, 2008.

Cancellation for Non-Use: Decision Shifts Burden of Proof of Use to the Trademark Owner published in the INTA Bulletin dated November 1, 2008 Vol. 63 No. 20 and also published in Marcasur in November 2008, Issue No. 8).

Enforcement and challenges of the patent regime in Costa Rica published in Marcasur on November 23, 2011.

The luxury of fashion law published in World Intellectual Property Review (WIPR) on November 1, 2013.

Clinical trials in Costa Rica: protecting patient privacy published in Life Sciences Intellectual Property Review on June 10, 2016.

Stem cells in Costa Rica: a boost for medical research published in Life Sciences Intellectual Property Review on July 4, 2017.

Costa Rica Battling for Acquired Distinctiveness published in World Trademark Review on September 1, 2017.

Costa Rica has released new rules for the clinical investigation of adult stem cells, as María del Pilar López and Esteban Monge of Zürcher Lawyers report published in Life Sciences Intellectual Property Review on October 4, 2018.

Privacy Profile published in Bloomberg Law in April 2020.

Data Protection in the Context of the Coronavirus Pandemic published in Bloomberg Law in April 2020.

Trademarking national symbols in Costa Rica – what you need to know published in World Trademark Review on July 24, 2020.

Personal

Beyond the office, María combines her passion for wellness through hiking and spinning with her dedication to intellectual property law. She stays at the forefront of trending topics in privacy and IP, while cherishing time with family and friends.

Languages Spoken

Spanish and English.