Flavio Arosemena (Arosemena Burbano & asociados) and Alfonso Rivera (Tobar y Bustamante) have sent IP Tango information concerning a recent decision by the Tenth Provisional Judge of Criminal Guarantees of Guayaquil (
Sorry, this translation sounds awful!). The decision concerns a
dispute we have already talked about in IP Tango about the complaint of a wholesalers association against
IEPI. The association understood that actions of IEPI to seize counterfeited products were a violation of constitutional right to work of professionals of the wholesale business.
The decision states that
copyright and intellectual property rights are considered rights recognised in the Ecuatorian Constitution. Furthermore, the judge states that illegal or semi-illegal activities cannot be justified on the existence of a constitutional right to work.
The inmediate consequence of this decision is that the actions adopted by IEPI to protect intellectual property rights are considered as legal.
