A solid regulation generates confidence and guarantees the protection of trademarks, innovations and other intangible assets.
World Intellectual Property Day was celebrated on April 26. It is undoubtedly a date to review all that this discipline of law offers in terms of growth, innovation and development.
In order to highlight its importance, we propose the following question: what would happen if there were no Intellectual and Industrial Property laws in our country? Let us imagine a world where creations, inventions and works would have no protection for their owner, so that anyone could copy, modify, use and distribute freely without the author’s consent.
This area covers a broad set of rights that protect inventions, trademarks, artistic and literary works, industrial designs, utility models, software and trade secrets, among many other intangible assets.
If these disciplines were not legally regulated in Chile, the following questions would arise.
Why create, if others can profit without recognizing the author?
Without regulation, a highly problematic scenario would arise both for creators and for the economy in general. Authors and creators would have no tools to defend their work against unauthorized copying or use, which would discourage innovation and creativity.
Indeed, the efforts of years could be appropriated by third parties without legal consequences, undermining confidence in the systems of creation and entrepreneurship.
Who would invest time and resources without legal backing?
Another major problem would be the lack of protection for inventors and entrepreneurs. Companies that invest significant resources in research and development would have no guarantee of exclusivity over their products.
Any competitor could replicate their inventions and commercialize them without having assumed the cost and risk of the innovative process. This situation would completely discourage investments in strategic sectors such as technology, pharmaceuticals, or the creative industry, causing national economic development to stagnate.
From the legal point of view, the lack of clear rules on intellectual property would generate a vacuum of rights that would make it difficult to resolve conflicts. Without a legal framework that determines the ownership of a work or invention, the courts would be unable to protect and enforce the rights of authors and owners.
This would increase litigation, legal uncertainty and informality in commercial relations, since contracts would lack support if there are no rights recognized by law.
In addition, the absence of regulation would negatively affect the country’s international reputation. Chile has signed international treaties and conventions such as the Berne Convention, TRIPS and the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), which require minimum standards of protection.
If the country does not comply with these obligations, it could face trade sanctions, difficulties in bilateral agreements and loss of confidence from foreign investors. Intellectual property is a key element for integration into globalized economies that value the protection of innovation.
The current situation in Chile
Current regulations in Chile, led by the National Institute of Industrial Property (INAPI) and supported by laws such as Law No. 17,336 on Intellectual Property and Law No. 19,039 on Industrial Property, provide a robust legal environment that ensures creators and entrepreneurs that their works and inventions are protected. This framework promotes the development of new businesses, enables technology transfer, and fosters competitiveness through the recognition of the value of intangible assets.
One of the main benefits of intellectual property is that it boosts innovation by protecting creations and ensuring that effort and risk are recognized.
For example, in the field of industrial property, patents offer temporary exclusivity on an invention to commercialize it. This makes it possible to recover the investment and expenses incurred in research and creation, also encouraging competition to innovate faster and seek new solutions to technical problems. This protection system has a raison d’être: to promote the transfer of knowledge and innovation, which translates into growth and evolution for the country.
In short, intellectual property not only protects the rights of those who create, but also promotes an orderly, fair and competitive economic and legal environment. Without this protection, Chile would risk not only a setback in terms of innovation, but also greater inequality, unresolved legal conflicts, and a loss of competitiveness on the international stage.
Moreover, countries that protect and regulate both intellectual and industrial property are positioned more solidly before the world.
In this sense, the fact that Chile has a solid regulation on intellectual and industrial property motivates and attracts foreigners to settle in the country with the confidence and security that their brands, innovations and any other intangible asset will enjoy protection.
Therefore, intellectual and industrial property regulations are fundamental for the sustainable development of the country and it is for this reason that today is celebrated the World Intellectual Property Day, fundamental rules for the country that highlight the importance of protecting creativity, evolution and innovation.
For more information on these topics, please contact our IP, Tech and Data team:
Eugenio Gormáz | Partner | egormaz@az.cl
Antonia Nudman | Senior Associate | anudman@az.cl
Carlos Lazcano | Senior Associate | clazcano@az.cl
Fernanda Rodríguez | Associate | frodriguez@az.cl
Esteban Orhanovic | Associate | eorhanovic@az.cl
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