Gin, sweets and telegraph: tales of an active legal study since 1869

G. Breuer, founded by the German Gustav Breuer and dedicated to brands and patents, worked on the first records of the country; participated in academic life and law writing

The young Gustav Breuer had never even imagined it, but when he arrived in Argentina in a steamer coming from his native Germany and when he began, shortly thereafter, to work on the protection of marks and patents, he laid the foundation stone for a legal study that became synonymous with this theme and this year celebrates its 150th anniversary. Your name G. Breuer.

The members of the current study discovered, a few years ago, a sepia role that represents the "birth certificate" of G. Breuer, the oldest study in the country: it is a power to process a patent file , awarded to Gustav on March 10, 1869. The names of the examiners who have affixed their signatures will ring loudly in Argentine history: Mario Tomás Perón, father of Juan Domingo Perón, and Carlos Enrique Pellegrini, father of Carlos Pellegrini.

But the story of the founder had begun a few years earlier, in the German city of Solingen, where he was born in 1832. Son of a Protestant pastor and a Catholic mother, Gustav had 6 brothers and belonged to a family that Great tradition among the guilds of artisans. In the middle of the 19th century, he emigrated to Argentina and in 1857 married Eladia Mariño Barrios.

The Gustav-based study on the defense of industrial property rights (decisions, proceedings, contracts and advice) included five of the country's top 30 trademarks, among its customers: florida water Source, Key gin (from Peters ), Peters mint liquor, Gin Anchor Chica (Peters), Gin Anchor Grande (Peters) and Anised Anchor (Peters), all listed on March 10, 1877. Some, like Peters, are still in G. Breuer's portfolio.

Of course, they are not the only ones to have participated in the study or to stay clients. Some others are: Espadrilles, Shell, Fernet Branca, Lux, Vasenol Pasta, Chartreuse (liqueur), Pirelli, Cbade, Kiwi (ointment for shoes), Brancato (jelly), Chesterfield, Mitsubishi and Lacoste.

According to Jorge Otamendi, a partner of G. Breuer and the fifth generation of the firm (he is a great-great grandson of Gustav), his portfolio is vast. "We have a very large number of customers and brands: from a supermarket like Cencosud to a soda-producing company like Pepsi to a cosmetics company like L'Oréal," he says. declared.

The family imprint has been around for 150 years. The founder died in 1904 and his two sons, Gustavo Martín and Pedro Alberto (Jorge's great-grandfather) inherited it. Finally, he buys the coin to his brother and stays ahead, accompanied by his son, Pedro Carlos, who badumes the address of his father's death. Pedro Carlos also has four children (one man and three women). That's how his son, who was already a lawyer, and his three sons-in-law (two lawyers and an engineer) finally joined the firm. He then enters the fifth generation, the one he currently directs and which is composed of Jorge, Martin Guerrico, Alejandro Breuer Moreno and Pedro Breuer Moreno. "And there are already members of the sixth generation in the study: Agustina Martínez Estrada, Ramiro Guerrico and Magdalena Otamendi," says Jorge.

Among the notable cases of the study in the field of patents, Jorge saves two of 1901: the patent procedure for the improvement of wireless telegraphy, requested by a? Guglielmo Marconi (yes, the inventor of the radio), and the demand for protection of a food product made by one? John H. Kellogg. "In addition, that year came a local inventor who wanted to patent his product in Turkey and another who asked him to patent an automatic pregonero car, which included a megaphone and a poster area," says Jorge, who this year ).

Meanwhile, with regards to branding issues, Jorge saves three
main business. The first dates back to the 1940s and is known as "The Cow Laughs". Someone registered this mark here, with the same design as the original French "The Laughing Cow", and baderted that this did not constitute a violation, as the 10-year limitation period was already expired. "There, in defense of the original, we managed to apply the principle that, when there is bad faith, there is no prescription." But how did According to our argument, the doctrine that any registered mark is null for anyone who knew or ought to know that the mark belonged to a third party ", explains Jorge.

The other two cases are closer in time. In the 1980s, Burger King claimed that Pumper Nic had issued a logo very similar to his and that the complaint of G. Breuer had been recognized by the Supreme Court and that the defendant had prohibited to use this logo. At the same time, Christian Dior and Mampar (1986) started selling bathroom screens with the French brand. "Here, the interesting thing was that Christian Dior had no mark on the bathroom screens, but it was also decided that he could not enjoy the prestige and the name of the bathroom. another, "says Jorge.

In patents, there were fewer resonant cases, but one can be found. Ten years ago, Laboratorios Merial had a problem with a product sprayed on dogs and repelling lice. The fact was that the one who copied this product claimed the patent nullity, claiming that it was a pharmaceutical product. "We said that was not the case, because keeping the animal from having an insect does not turn that into a pharmaceutical product." We win it at court ", says Jorge.

G. Breuer, representing clients from all sectors and five continents, has also achieved many academic performances and contributed to the drafting of laws. "For example, Pedro Alberto and Gustavo Breuer were consulted about the trademark law before the current law, which was recorded during their treatment in Congress," remembers Jorge.

Jorge stresses that the great concern of the study has always been that the country has the best legislation and the best possible jurisprudence in all areas of industrial property. In this respect, today they have a big challenge in terms of drugs. "Although the new patent law was adopted and the protection adopted in 1995, a joint resolution was pbaded in 2011 by the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Health and the National Institute of industrial property. [INPI], where the patentability of certain pharmaceutical products is prohibited, which are the most important. I am fighting against this to ask for its repeal for years. "

Jorge points out that another important problem is the adoption of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), of which 152 countries are already part of it. "Today, the inventors' problem is that they have only one year since their appearance and that, afterwards, they lose the opportunity.Here, there are still great inventors, but in a year they do not have the time to get investments, they are frustrated and go away, and with the PCT, the deadline would be 30 months, while in the meantime an office is already doing a preliminary badysis of the patent. ", explains Jorge.

For all this, deplores Jorge, Argentina has ceded to patents. "Now, they present less than in the 80s. Here, there was a tradition of protection, that's why we were what we were: people invented, introduced, protected themselves. Only 4000 applications are submitted per year, while in Brazil, 40,000 are submitted, 600,000 in Germany and 1.5 million in China, "says the lawyer.

As he was far from imagining those numbers and problems as the young Gustav Breuer! He came to pursue his dreams on these lands and eventually found a study that celebrates today 150 years of existence.