The Superintendence of Industry and Commerce determined that the Buenaventura Port Company is infringing an Invention Patent, whose owner is Guillermo Bobienrieth, a Chilean citizen, inventor of the Patent called portatapas, which consists of a mechanism by which times and spaces in the loading ports, an invention that was being used in the port of Buenaventura in violation of patent rights.
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In 2016, Guillermo Bobienrieth, engineer and consultant in ports, developed a technology consisting of orn system that is installed on container cranes in ports, to leave the hatch covers of the ships on the cranes, while loading and unloading containers from the ships that dock in the ports. The objective of this is the optimization of the container transfer processes, through the efficient use of space. This mechanism, the lid holder, has been patented in Colombia since 2016.
“Mr. Bobienrieth develops technologies and solutions for the port industry and trades his technology in the ports of Latin America and the world. Faced with a frustrated attempt to negotiate with the port of Buenaventura, he realized that they had bought some new cranes worth more than 30 million dollars where they had installed their device, the cap holder, thereby infringing intellectual property rights.” affirmed Felipe Andrade, partner of Conflict Resolution and co-leader of the Intellectual Property area of CMS Rodríguez-Azuero, legal representative of the plaintiff.
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The plaintiff asked the judge of the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce to protect the rights of the inventor, for which he must: (i) declare that the Port Society of Buenaventura is infringing the patent; (ii) declare the Port Society of Buenaventura as an offender and order it to cease the acts of infractions; (iii) and that it be compensated for damages caused in excess of 39 million dollars.
After a year of intense controversy between the lawyers (CMS as attorney for the plaintiff and OlarteMoure as attorney for the defendant) during the final hearing the judge declared the meaning of the ruling, being favorable to the claims of the plaintiff and indicating that the Buenaventura Port Society infringed the patent.
Within ten days the judge will determine what the sentence will be and damage repair.
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“This decision is of great importance as it ratifies the national commitment on the defense of intellectual property rights, even when it is the large and powerful companies that infringe them.”, commented the lawyer Felipe Andrade.
