Simões, Garcia, Corte-Real & Associados was founded in 1998 by a team of qualified patent and trademark attorneys with longstanding expertise in the field of industrial and intellectual property. The firm provides a broad range of high-quality services in all fields of industrial and intellectual property, including assistance and consultancy services in the acquisition and management of IP portfolios, strategic advice, enforcement and IP litigation.
Simões, Garcia, Corte-Real & Associados maintains the features of an IP agency, but has developed a solid, specialised legal group which deals efficiently with complex and sophisticated legal trademark and design issues. The firm has grown rapidly to become one of the leading Portuguese IP firms.
The firm’s organisation, training and practice are client orientated in every detail. Its main goal has always been to support clients constructively and efficiently in the development of adequate IP strategies and innovation processes, ultimately contributing to their market success.
Initially based in Lisbon, the firm’s development and success led to the opening of a second office in Porto in 2007. The firm’s practice remains closely linked to other Portuguese-speaking countries and territories, such as Macao, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde and the St Thomas and Prince Islands.
A team of specialists
The patent and trademark attorneys of Simões, Garcia, Corte-Real & Associados are aided by a competent team of paralegals and administrative staff. The firm relies on six industrial property agents who are qualified to practise before the Portuguese IP Office and the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). Seven attorneys who specialise in trademarks and designs deal on a daily basis with complex issues, trademark enforcement, counterfeiting and litigation. The firm has developed an appropriate and flexible IT infrastructure to manage IP portfolios and perform clearing or availability searches and reliable watch services. The success of the trademark working group is based on its solid legal and technical background, combined with a responsive, cost-conscious, proactive approach towards clients.
International experience
Simões, Garcia, Corte-Real & Associados offers quality patent, design and trademark services at competitive and predictable rates at an international level. In the area of European patents, the firm offers national validation, multiple language translation and monitoring services to foreign clients. Its team of translators have well-established experience and are specialised in each of the requisite technical fields, particularly in the areas of mechanical engineering, physics, chemistry, electrical engineering and electronics. In the trademark field, the firm’s practice covers Portuguese registrations, EU trademarks and International registrations at the World Intellectual Property Organisation. Further, the firm secures clients’ trademark rights in other territories or countries within the Portuguese-speaking world.
Clients benefit enormously from a single point of contact for several Portuguese-speaking jurisdictions, avoiding the need to deal with multiple firms from strikingly different cultural areas.
The fast-changing nature of IP law is familiar to the team at Simões, Garcia, Corte-Real & Associados, which is in regular contact with the best IP practices around the world. The firm’s partners and associates are active members of national and international associations dedicated to the development of IP law.
Work areas
Simões, Garcia, Corte-Real & Associados advises and represents different types of domestic and foreign company, ranging from global companies to small and medium-sized enterprises across a wide range of sectors. The firm has gained a reputation for its overall high quality, efficiency and competitive rates.
The firm’s trademark attorneys have notable experience in the areas of fashion, sports, banking, tobacco and healthcare. They often assist in anti-counterfeiting procedures and have developed solid relationships with the public authorities responsible for trademark protection and enforcement. In the trademark litigation and pre-litigation stages, they offer exceptional value for their strategic guidance and advice.
Simões, Garcia, Corte-Real & Associados ranks in first place for filings from Portuguese representatives at EUIPO for both EU trademarks and Community designs, and has experience in coordinating global projects to acquire or maintain IP portfolios in several jurisdictions. Innovative and cost-effective strategies, user-friendly communication and full commitment to clients are among the firm’s core strengths.