Annabelle Angarita

Annabelle Angarita is partner at Legary IP. She specializes in trademarks, copyright, entertainment law, personal data protection, the regulation of technology and artificial intelligence applied to the intellectual property sector. In these areas, she has designed innovative and actionable solutions that enable companies to legally protect, expand, and leverage their businesses. She has led the protection of non-traditional trademarks, the registration of trademarks demonstrating their acquired distinctiveness, and has obtained declarations of notoriety for well-known brands in sectors such as fashion, food, insurance, and banking.

Her practice includes intellectual property litigation, and she has participated in numerous high-impact due diligence processes for companies in various sectors (pharmaceutical, food, education, financial, among others).

She also provides cross-cutting advice to the Life Sciences industry, particularly on digital commerce and legal evaluation of platforms for regulated products (food, beverages, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, among others), digital advertising, influencer marketing agreements and regulatory compliance, as well as consumer law matters related to products with health registrations.

Member of ACPI (Asociación Colombiana de la Propiedad Intelectual) and ASIPI (Asociación Interamericana de la Propiedad Intelectual).

“Implementación de la distintividad adquirida en Colombia” [Implementation of Acquired Distinctiveness in Colombia]

Revista La Propiedad Inmaterial, Universidad Externado de Colombia · Issue 38, August 2024, pg 31-57.

https://revistas.uexternado.edu.co/index.php/propin/article/view/9701

BOOK CHAPTER

“Modernización de marcas, alteración de su carácter distintivo y consecuencias” [Trademark Modernisation, Alteration of Distinctive Character and its Consequences]

In: Innovación y Propiedad Intelectual: Tendencias Siglo XXI. Bogotá: Editorial Universidad del Rosario / Tirant lo Blanch · 2020

COLUMNS ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY — LA REPÚBLICA / ASUNTOS LEGALES

“Propiedad Intelectual en relaciones laborales” [Intellectual Property in Employment Relationships]

La República — Asuntos Legales · 31 August 2020

https://www.asuntoslegales.com.co/analisis/annabelle-angarita-529131/propiedad-intelectual-en-relaciones-laboralesen-colombia-existe-una-presuncion-de-cesion-automatica-de-todos-los-derechos-de-propiedad-industrial-y-derechos-patrimoniales-de-autor-creados-por-los-empleados-a-favor-de-sus-empleadores-consagrada-en-la-ley-3052928

“El uso no autorizado de las marcas” [Unauthorised Use of Trademarks]

La República — Asuntos Legales · 8 June 2020

https://www.asuntoslegales.com.co/analisis/annabelle-angarita-529131/el-uso-no-autorizado-de-las-marcas-3015303

“Sobre las infracciones de marcas” [On Trademark Infringement]

La República — Asuntos Legales · 16 December 2019

https://www.asuntoslegales.com.co/analisis/annabelle-angarita-529131/sobre-las-infracciones-de-marcas-2944595

“Nombres comerciales” [Trade Names]

La República — Asuntos Legales · 23 September 2019

https://www.asuntoslegales.com.co/analisis/annabelle-angarita-529131/nombres-comerciales-2911144

“Cesión de marcas” [Assignment of Trademarks]

La República — Asuntos Legales · 19 November 2018

https://www.asuntoslegales.com.co/analisis/annabelle-angarita-529131/cesion-de-marcas-2794905

“El nombre comercial” [The Trade Name]

La República — Asuntos Legales · 30 July 2018

https://www.asuntoslegales.com.co/analisis/annabelle-angarita-529131/el-nombre-comercial-2754559

“Las consecuencias de engañar a los consumidores” [The Consequences of Misleading Consumers]

La República — Asuntos Legales · 18 June 2018

https://www.asuntoslegales.com.co/analisis/annabelle-angarita-529131/las-consecuencias-de-enganar-a-los-consumidores-2738961

“Marcas y nombres de personas conocidas” [Trademarks and the Names of Well-Known Persons]

La República — Asuntos Legales · 5 February 2018

https://www.asuntoslegales.com.co/analisis/annabelle-angarita-529131/marcas-y-nombres-de-personas-conocidas-2595743

“El registro de traspasos de marcas” [Recordal of Trademark Transfers]

La República — Asuntos Legales · 11 December 2017

https://www.asuntoslegales.com.co/analisis/annabelle-angarita-529131/el-registro-de-traspasos-de-marcas-2579428

“Coexistencia de hecho de marcas” [De Facto Coexistence of Trademarks]

La República — Asuntos Legales · 24 October 2017

https://www.asuntoslegales.com.co/analisis/annabelle-angarita-529131/coexistencia-de-hecho-de-marcas-2562034

“Sobre el Co-branding” [On Co-branding]

La República — Asuntos Legales · 2 October 2017

https://www.asuntoslegales.com.co/analisis/annabelle-angarita-529131/sobre-el-co-branding-2554209

“Sobre las infracciones de marcas” [On Trademark Infringement]

La República — Asuntos Legales · 31 July 2017

https://www.asuntoslegales.com.co/analisis/annabelle-angarita-529131/sobre-las-infracciones-de-marcas-2532196

“¿Existe una marca internacional?” [Is There Such a Thing as an International Trademark?]

La República — Asuntos Legales · 11 June 2017

https://www.asuntoslegales.com.co/analisis/annabelle-angarita-529131/existe-una-marca-internacional-2519395

“Marcas: Sobre la CAN y la oposición andina” [Trademarks: On the Andean Community and the Andean Opposition]

La República — Asuntos Legales · 22 April 2017

https://www.asuntoslegales.com.co/analisis/annabelle-angarita-529131/marcas-sobre-la-can-y-la-oposicion-andina-2499536

“Sobre la concesión anticipada del registro de marcas” [On the Early Grant of Trademark Registrations]

La República — Asuntos Legales · 16 February 2017

https://www.asuntoslegales.com.co/analisis/annabelle-angarita-529131/sobre-la-concesion-anticipada-del-registro-de-marcas-2472586

“Denominaciones de origen” [Appellations of Origin]

La República — Asuntos Legales · 21 November 2016

https://www.asuntoslegales.com.co/analisis/annabelle-angarita-529131/denominaciones-de-origen-2443496

“Opciones para proteger su marca en el extranjero” [Options for Protecting Your Trademark Abroad]

La República — Asuntos Legales · 15 October 2016

https://www.asuntoslegales.com.co/analisis/annabelle-angarita-529131/opciones-para-proteger-su-marca-en-el-extranjero-2431831

“Algunos consejos prácticos para escoger su marca” [Some Practical Advice on Choosing Your Trademark]

La República — Asuntos Legales · 10 September 2016

https://www.asuntoslegales.com.co/analisis/annabelle-angarita-529131/algunos-consejos-practicos-para-escoger-su-marca-2419696

“El nombre comercial: signo valioso para su empresa” [The Trade Name: A Valuable Sign for Your Business]

La República — Asuntos Legales · 15 August 2016

https://www.asuntoslegales.com.co/analisis/annabelle-angarita-529131/el-nombre-comercial-signo-valioso-para-su-empresa-2410641

“Marcas notorias: crea fama y no te eches a dormir” [Well-Known Trademarks: Build a Reputation and Do Not Rest on It]

La República — Asuntos Legales · 11 July 2016

https://www.asuntoslegales.com.co/analisis/annabelle-angarita-529131/marcas-notorias-crea-fama-y-no-te-eches-a-dormir-2398351

The trademark practice led by Annabelle Angarita rests on three groups of clients. The first is Colombian consumer and industrial companies — animal health and veterinary products, food and spices, cosmetics and laboratories, chemicals, electrical and glass manufacturing, automotive, recycling, telecommunications and professional services — which rely on her for the filing, watching and enforcement of their Colombian portfolios and their expansion across Latin American region; in regulated sectors she also designs branding strategies built to clear the Trademark Office. The second is the creative and entertainment industries — music, audiovisual production, design studios, fashion, jewellery and gastronomy — where she acts for companies as well as for entrepreneurs and artists filing in their own name. The third, and the most international, is IP firms in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, Spain, the United Kingdom, India and Australia that appoint her as Colombian counsel and regional portfolio coordinator — including the mandate of an international investment group building a family of luxury brands protected in more than twenty jurisdictions.

Annabelle has a keen interest in the entertainment industry, one she has explored from the creative side as well: she is passionate about acting and has taken acting classes. Outside the office, she is a devoted film lover and enjoys playing tennis.

Annabelle Angarita's trademark work spans the full range of the practice, from routine prosecution to the system's most demanding proceedings. She advises an international investment group on the launch of a family of luxury brands — fashion, fine jewellery, haute horlogerie and premium chocolate, inspired by endemic products of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Botswana — a mandate covering a full audit of the intangible assets, a multi-jurisdictional protection strategy across more than twenty countries, valuation of the brands, and a legal roadmap to elevate them to the highest level of protection available, including well-known mark status and trade dress recognition. For a manufacturer in the animal health sector she built a branding strategy designed to survive two examinations at once — the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce and the sanitary authority — anticipating the descriptiveness, deceptiveness and prior-rights objections that typically defeat signs used on veterinary and agrochemical products. On the contentious side she has run well-known mark declarations, non-use cancellation actions, oppositions, and infringement and unfair competition matters before the SIC, including portfolio clean-ups where targeted cancellations free up signs blocked by dormant third-party registrations. Alongside this, she acts as Colombian counsel and regional coordinator for IP firms in North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America, which entrust her with executing their own clients' trademark strategies in the region.

Her strategic approach considers the business, expansion plans and revenue before filing. Her experience and regional examination helps anticipate objections, her attention to detail keeps signs consistent across jurisdictions. Clients value her ability to translate legal decisions into business.

Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario

J.D.

1998 - 2003

Université Paris Panthéon-Assas (France)

Master in Intellectual Property

2009 - 2010

Université Paris Panthéon-Assas (France)

Master in Bussiness and Enterprise Law

2008 - 2009

Annabelle Angarita has built her trademark practice around industries where the sign and the product are heavily regulated, or where the brand is itself the principal business asset. She is particularly experienced in animal health and veterinary products, pet care and pet food, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, cosmetics and personal care, dietary supplements, and food and beverages — sectors in which a sign must satisfy the registrability examination and the criteria of of the Trademark Office. At the other end of the spectrum she acts for the creative and luxury industries: fashion, fine jewellery, watchmaking, premium chocolate and signature gastronomy, music, audiovisual production and design studios, where the work turns on well-known mark status, trade dress and building portfolios that sustain brand value over time. Alongside these sits a solid base of industrial and service clients — chemicals, electrical and glass manufacturing, automotive, recycling and the circular economy, telecommunications, technology and professional services firms — together with entrepreneurs and artists filing their first marks. Her client base runs from growing local companies to multinationals and international investment groups, allowing her to calibrate strategy to the size and life stage of each business.

Colombia is the base of Annabelle Angarita's practice, but her work has been defined by what happens beyond it. From Bogota she directs the protection of her clients' trademarks in whichever jurisdictions their business requires, structuring filing, watching and enforcement strategies country by country while holding a single line of criteria across the portfolio. In parallel, and from the same office, she coordinates filings for clients from Europe, the United States, the United Kingdom, India, Japan and Australia, among others, across the twenty-three countries of Latin America and the Caribbean: the client instructs once and receives one strategy, consistent criteria and consolidated reporting, rather than managing the region firm by firm. Her fluency in French has also made her the natural point of contact for French-speaking clients seeking protection in Colombia and the wider region, and for Latin American clients who need to be advised directly in that language.