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Lawyer and Patent and Trademark Agent

Specialized in trademarks, patents, industrial design, competition and authorship rights.

Mario Soerensen Garcia's law and agent practice covers domestic and international intellectual property and, specifically, matters involving trademark, patent, design, competition and copyright law. He has extensive experience in contested matters and litigation of trademarks, trade dress, image rights and copyrights, as well as advising and counseling on protection and enforcement of rights.

Recent Representative Cases in Court

• Boehringer Ingelheim Group vs. EMS S.A., Reference trade-dress case.
• Allergan Inc. vs. Klein Becker USA LLC., Reference comparative advertising case.
• SuperClubs vs. Hotelaria Brasil Ltda., Reference punitive damages case.
• Nestlé Group vs. Veneza Express Ind. e Com. de Alimentos Ltda., Reference trade-dress case.
• Nestlé Brasil Ltda. and Société des Produits Nestlé S.A. vs. CW Indústria e Comércio de Gelo e Bebidas Ltda. Me (Trademark Infringement).
• Dell Computer Corp. (presently Dell Inc.) and Dell Computadores do Brasil Ltda vs. Rafael Gomes Garcia Me. (Trademark Infringement, Trademark Conflict and Domain Name)
• Nestlé Brasil Ltda. vs. Cooperativa Central dos Produtores Rurais de Minas Gerais Ltda. (Trade-dress Counterfeit and Unfair Competition)

Education

University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (1985).

Qualifications

• Registered in the States of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
• Brazilian Bar Association.
• Registered in the Portuguese Bar Association. 

Languages

Fluent in Portuguese and English.

Activities & Affiliations

• International Trademark Association, INTA.
  
  - Member of the INTA Board of Directors and of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors from 2010 to 2012.
  
  - Member of the Emerging Issues Committee, Design Rights Subcommittee (2008-present);
  
  - Chair, International Conference, "What´s Cooking in Europe", December 2007, Lisbon,
    Portugal;
  
  - Member, Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee (2006/2007). 
  
  - Member, Programs Board (2002/2003, 2004/2005);
  
  - Chair, International Roundtable Sub-committee 2001/2002;
   
• Pharmaceutical Trademark Group (PTMG), Delegate.
  
• Member of the Board of Directors of ABPI - Brazilian IP Association from 2010 to 2011;
  
• Member of the Board of Directors of ABAPI - Brazilian IP Agents Association from 2010 to 2011.

Other Distinctions

Member of Team Awarded Best Patent Firm of Latin America/Caribbean by World Leaders Internacional - 2009.

Informa WorldLeaders Award, Highly Recommended for Latin America IP Practice (2008).

Guest Lecturer at School of Judges of Rio de Janeiro. (2004)

Guest Lecturer at Columbia University, New York, NY. (2001 - present)

Publications

• “Sugestive Marks and Poor Decisions” Brazilian Association of Intelectual Property (ABPI), number 95, Rio de Janeiro, jul/ago 2008.

• American Bar Association of the New York State, "Judge in a fictitious case on copyright", 2005, New York, USA.

• Américas IP Focus: Protection and Enforcement - Managing Intelectual Property, (2003).

• Intelectual Property Chapter of the "Doing Busines in Brazil" Guide of the American Bar Association - Chicago, USA, (2002).

• "Conflict between domain names, trademarks and comercial names. Forense Magazine - Vol. 350, (2000). 

• AIPPI. Repórter: "Mediation Systems." Associon Internacionel pour la Protecion de la Propriete Industriel (AIPPI) 1998, Rio de Janeiro.

• "Statute of limitation operates over "distorted" decisions od the Brazilian Patent Office"? Brazilian Association of Intelectual Property (ABPI), number 36, Set/Out 1998.

Presentations

• Speaker at INTA Leadership Meeting in Boca Raton Florida on November 14th, 2008 – In House and Outside Counsel, Working Together.

• Speaker at the International Copyright Forum of the New York County Law Association, October, 21st, 2008, in New York.

• LES-CAN: Speaker: "Patent Protection for Research and its Scope." Licensing Executives Society of Andean Community", Conference 2005, Cartagena, Colombia.

• PTMG. Speaker: "Enforcement of Trademark Rights in Latin America." 68TH PTMG Conference 2004, London, England.

• INTA. Speaker: "The Market, the Law and the Future." Famous and Well-known Trademarks Forum 2004, Brussels, Belgium.

• INTA. Speaker: "Selecting a Brand for Expanding Business Internationally (International Brands vs. National Brands)." International Trademark Association (INTA), Annual Meeting 2004, Washington D.C., USA.

• INTA. Speaker: "Understanding a little more about Latin American Law: A Comparative Analysis Using Trade-Dress and Dilution Examples." International Trademark Association (INTA), Annual Meeting 2003, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

• ABPI. Speaker: "Conflicts among Trademarks, Commercial names and Domain Names." Associação Brasileira da Propriedade Industrial, 18th Annual Meeting, 5th Plenary Session, 1998, São Paulo, Brazil.