GR LEX Americas

We listen.

We understand.

We resolve.

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GR LEX is a specialist Intellectual Property Law and Foreign and Domestic Investment Firm based in Caracas, Venezuela, representing local and international clients from large, medium and small businesses from diverse commercial and industrial sectors of the international and local economy.
“A HANDS ON APPROACH AND ATTENTION TO DETAIL IN EVERY MATTER, ARE KEY ASPECTS OF OUR PRAGMATIC BUSINESS ORIENTATION”

Specialization

We have always focused our efforts on creating and maintaining a Team highly specialized in the services offered by the Firm. All the GR LEX Partners have more than 20 years of experience dealing with complex matters involving the protection of IP rights for local and international clients, as well as, dealing with the highly demanding needs and challenges faced by foreign investors in Venezuela and by local investors internationally.

Innovation

Understanding the challenges of the information, technology and knowledge age, we are always seeking to respond and react by creating new strategies. Whenever an extraordinary situation arises, we have the necessary flexibility to think laterally and create solutions. This enables us to manage and resolve all matters handled by our Firm, in the most efficient and innovative way possible.

Tailored Service

We consider it essential to foster effective communications and personalize our contacts. Consequently, we fully understand our clients’ needs and budget concerns, to deliver the finest, tailored service.

Timing

We use our considerable expertise to anticipate when action is required to achieve our clients’ goals.

Trust

We seek to win our clients’ trust and confidence based on our professionalism, ethical high standards, client references and track record.

Results

Because we too are business orientated and are able to empathize with our clients’ requirements, we are in an excellent position to achieve optimum results.

Commitment

We use our considerable expertise to anticipate when action is required to achieve our clients’ goals.

Our Trademark division is responsible for providing the following services in Venezuela, Central and South America:

- Conducting searches and clearance for word, combined and/or graphic marks;

- General counselling for the protection of trade, service, certification and collective marks, advertising slogans and publicity signs;

- Preparing, filing and prosecuting trademark applications;

- Preparing, or replying to, objections, cancellation actions, appeals and nullification actions;

- Counselling on maintenance of registered trademarks;

- Filing of renewals, recording changes of names and changes of address of trademark owners to existing trademark registrations or pending applications;

- Trademark watch services;

- General counselling regarding contracts involving licensing and/or assignment of trademarks, including the drafting and organization of the required paper work;

Our Patent Division is responsible for providing the following services to our clients:

- Conducting patent searches regarding the uniqueness and/or infringement, including searching at the information center of the Venezuelan PTO and through other international data bases;

- Patent drafting, including preparing technical drawings;

- Counseling on the patentability of inventions;

- Filing and prosecuting applications (including preparing amendments);

- Filing of renewals, recording changes of names and changes of address of Patent owners for existing Patents or pending applications;

- Patent watch services;

- Preparing or replying to objections, cancellations actions, appeals and nullification actions;

- Translating Patent documents Spanish/English and English/Spanish;

- General counseling regarding agreements involving licensing and/or assignment of patent rights, including preparing and organizing the required documents.

Our Industrial Design Division is responsible for providing the following services:

- Search of prior Industrial Design registrations;

- Drafting design specifications, including the preparation of drawings;

- Filing and prosecuting Industrial Design applications;

- Filing of renewals, recording changes of names and changes of address of Industrial Design owners in existing trademark registrations or pending applications;

- Preparing or replying to objections, cancellation actions, appeals and nullification actions;

- Industrial Design watch service;

- Translating documents Spanish/English and English/Spanish;

- General client counseling regarding agreements involving licensing and/or assignment of Industrial Designs, including the draft and organization of the required documents.

Our CEIS Division is responsible for providing the following services:

- Organizing, filing and prosecuting copyright applications for the protection of literary, artistic and scientific works, including software and digital applications;

- Providing legal advice regarding the wide variety of Entertainment Law matters relating to the radio, television, film, theater and music industries; including the drafting and evaluation of contracts involving performers, authors, composers, designers, broadcasters, producers and other IP rights owners;

- Providing legal advice to Internet Service Providers and Web developers, in relation to diverse aspects and rights related to any Internet project or activity; including the drafting and evaluation of contracts dealing with programmers, designers, authors and other IP rights owners;

- Providing legal advice in relation to the diverse aspects and rights involved in any project or activity related to social media; including the drafting and evaluation of contracts for programmers, designers, authors and other IP rights owners.

One vital aspect of our practice is the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights. We adopt a very hands on approach to these operations, which is essential to the high success rate that we achieve.

We understand that IP piracy and counterfeiting is one of the greatest challenges to the complex phenomenon of the global economy, where organized crime networks are among the main actors.

This means that any IP Enforcement program must take this into account, focusing on more than the legalistic elements, to initiate and develop innovative thinking to promptly react to the adaptability of the counterfeiters. We offer our clients a Regional vision and approach to our IP Enforcement services and advice.

These services are available throughout Central and South America. At GR LEX, we believe it is essential to develop and execute comprehensive campaigns instead of isolated raids or actions, which, in our experience, are substantially less effective.

Our services include every aspect of a full enforcement program, starting with our capability to offer investigations at different levels for identifying sources, thus leading to the formulation of an all-encompassing operational plan incorporating all the available actions and measures, such as:

- Serving cease and desist letters;

- Investigating and determining the scope of the forgeries;

- Identifying the perpetrators;

- Conducting raids and seizures at different levels (Retail, Distributors-Wholesalers, Customs);

- Post raid follow up, including deterrent publicity, Court actions and other Police and Customs pressure on shippers;

- Monitoring Internet sites and shutting down on-line offers.

As a natural evolution of our practice and based on our experience resolving complex matters for foreign investors doing business in Venezuela, GR LEX created a Division for attending to Foreign Investors, which is responsible for providing the following services:

- Providing legal and practical advice about the legal framework and business environment for doing business in Venezuela;

- Incorporating and structuring new legal entities, including, but not limited to, companies, corporations, limited partnerships, local branches and subsidiaries;

- Legal advice for mergers, acquisitions, associations, joint ventures, licensing, outsourcing, technology transfer, import/export and distribution and representation agreements;

- Providing legal advice and representation in connection with public and private bidding processes, including, but not limited to, conducting the required due diligences, preparing and organizing the necessary documents, registration at any public entity as international supplier; drafting bid proposals and participating directly in the bid process.