Mossack Fonseca, Division Interview of Raquel Araz,

Esq. IP Division

On October 20, 2015, Raquel Araz, Esq., the head of Mossack Fonsecas (MF) Intellectual Property
Division, gave a highly informative interview to representatives of the MF Marketing Division.
Raquel, we would like our readers to get to know you; please tell us about yourself and your career prior
to working at MF
My pleasure, Im 38 years old, and for the past 10 years I have been working here at MF. I started out as
a legal assistant for Attorney Sara Montenegro. I then began developing the Intellectual Property (IP)
Division with the guidance of Attorney Joanna Soto. I have been the director of the IP division since its
inception four years ago.
Prior to joining MF, I spent several years working as an IP executive assistant, specializing in
managing and protecting trademark portfolios.
Please tell us about your legal and continuing education
I attended the Latina University (Universidad Latina) in Panama where I studied law and political
science. I have been a member of the International Trademark Association and the Inter-American
Association of Intellectual Property for the past six years. The International Trademark Association is a
congress that brings together around 10,000 IP agents and lawyers. A group of our lawyers, along with
the IP Division have been working really hard with these two associations.
Last year, for the first time, we attended the International Anti-counterfeiting Coalition meetingthey
are an organization focused solely on combating product counterfeiting and piracy. We also regularly
attend local seminars and congresses to continually update our knowledge base.

In May of this year, my colleague Attorney Li An Chong and I were invited by the Panamanian
consulate in Venice to talk about our complete range of legal services, as well as IP matters. We
discussed the benefits of trademark registration with the Venice Chamber of Commerce and the Verona
Chamber of Commerce. In addition, Attorney Amauri Batista is a member of the International Offices
Committee and the International Trademark Association.
Please tell us more about your team here at MF
I am fortunate to have a talented and highly committed team. I have an extremely able attorney, Jorge
Gutierrez, who recently earned his masters degree in litigation procedure. I also have a business
administrator, Milena Pinilla, who is my IP analyst, and Eric Carvajal who is my legal assistanthe is
in charge of monitoring our litigation process before the court. The team works directly with and is
supported by a truly outstanding group of lawyers in our Legal and Trust Services Department.
What are the benefits of going to MF instead of another provider?
First and foremost, our dedication to quality service: MF is the only ISO 9001 certified law firm in
Panama. We have over 500 staff members across every continent, and more than 35 years of experience.
Our clients can register and protect their trademarks, patents, and copyrights not only in Panama, but in
any country in the world, through our allied offices. We offer the highest commitment and most
competitive costs and to our clients.
How would you define intellectual property?
It is the development of ideas, the creation of the mind, our inventions, dreams, art, and designs that
should be protectedto make them unique. It is important to protect the rights over those designs,
products or servicesfor many reasonsto avoid third parties taking advantage of your work. Thats
the way I see it, I see it in a very passionate way. Keep in mind that intellectual property goes beyond
simple trademark registrationit is everything that comes after that, and we work hard to ensure that no
one else can take advantage of our clients dream.
Please give us some specific examples of what constitutes intellectual property
Sure, we have been protecting trademark registration for all kinds of products and serviceseverything
from cosmetics, fashion, sports, medical and pharmaceutical goods, education, entertainment, financial
services, management, and many others.
Right now we are working with software developers. In fact, recently we have been working on
protecting software developed by the Microsoft Corporation. We protect Giorgio Armani which is one
of our strongest trademarks. We also provide trademark protection for Terpel, a company with over
2,000 gas stations in Central and South America.
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