Mónica Bonnett

Practice Areas

Intellectual Property; Life Sciences

Career

Monica Bonnett is a partner in the Life Sciences and Intellectual Property areas of the firm. Over the past two decades, Monica has gained extensive experience in the Life Sciences sector. In this regard, she has advised multiple clients on (i) patents; (ii) industrial designs; (iii) trade secrets; (iv) know-how; (v) sanitary registrations; (vi) regulatory matters for both human and animal products; (vii) plant varieties; (viii) controlled substances; (ix) cannabis legislation; (x) healthcare industry; (xi) legislation on research centers and clinical trials. Similarly, Monica has advised a wide range of clients on health law matters. Similarly, Monica has advised a wide range of clients on health law matters and has been cooperating in many transactions of the health care sector.

Her experience includes all processes related to the prosecution of patents, industrial designs, including litigation and conflict resolution, technology transfer, consulting, and patent technology searches in Latin America. Monica is particularly skilled in managing large portfolios of sanitary registrations for both human and animal products in Latin America. She also designs strategies for the filing and obtaining of sanitary registrations for food and beverages, medical devices, drugs, dietary supplements, household cleaning products, personal care products, cannabis, and cosmetics, as well as veterinary drugs, animal cosmetics, and pet food. Monica is also knowledgeable about the import and export procedures for seeds, human genetic material, the protection of plant varieties in the Latin American continent, and obtaining licenses for fertilizers.

Monica combines her knowledge of patents, confidential information, know-how, proprietary information, and trade secrets in Intellectual Property consulting, helping to build a value chain for intangible assets, structuring protocols for confidential information, and generating a knowledge value chain to turn it into an Intellectual Property asset.

Her expertise has allowed her to participate in complex due diligence processes in the pharmaceutical, biotechnological, cannabis, food & beverage, medical devices, and clinical trials industries, among others.

She is recognized for her legal advice on complex health-related issues such as ethics committees, clinical trials, structuring business models for controlled substances, and import and export of genetic material.

The clients Monica has handled throughout her career have been national and multinational companies, and she is recognized for providing her services not only in the Colombian territory but also throughout the Latin American region.

Professional Memberships

Coordinator of the Group of Study for Cannabis legislation in Latam Countries, ASIPI, 2021-2023

Founder and Co-Chair of the Intellectual Property Women's Group in Colombia

Inter-American Association of Intellectual Property (ASIPI)

American Intellectual Property Association (AIPLA)

International Trademark Association (INTA)

Publications

"Historical Overview on the Evolution and Legislation of Cannabis in Latin America", Meritas, 2023

"Aspectos Legales de la Vacuna del Covid-19", Asuntos Legales de la República, 2020

"La Inteligencia Tecnológica, La Ruta a Seguir", Asuntos Legales de la República, 2020

"Seguridad para Producir Fórmulas Magistrales de Cannabis", Asuntos Legales de la República, 2020

"Innovación y Propiedad Intelectual Tendencias del Siglo XXI", Coordinadora y co-acutora, Tirant LoBlanch, Colombia, 2019

"Global Cannbabis Industry: The Essential Primer", Meritas, 2019

"Expanding Cannabis Operations in Latin America & The Caribbean", Meritas, 2019

"Regulación de información confidencial en el país", Asuntos Legales de la República, 2018

"Desafíos de Protección de Vida en Colombia", Asuntos Legales de la República, 2017

"Los Recursos de la Gestión de la Innovación", Asuntos Legales de la República, 2017

Work Highlights

Mónica has participated in transactions and due diligences of companies in the Health Care and Pharmaceutical Industry.

Local and multinational companies: Advising clients in connection with the protection of their patent portfolios, plant varieties and industrial designs in the Latin American region, both in the filing & prosecution, defense, maintenance of rights and design of strategies on how to make the filing projects of the portfolios in the most cost efficient way in the region and with deep legal-technical knowledge.

Multilevel companies, local and multinational: Advising clients in the design of their strategies on how to obtain their sanitary registrations in the Latin American region, for the pet food industry, dietary supplements, medical devices, drugs, cosmetics, beverages & food, personal care products, which has allowed them to do business in the region by efficiently having marketing/manufacturing permits.

Local and multinational online platforms: Advising clients on advertising issues from the regulatory point of view in the Latin American region. Design of strategies to make possible the business of advertising and brokering products subject to health registrations in online platforms, which has facilitated the client's business purpose and has avoided sanctions from regulatory authorities.

National and multinational companies: Advice to clients in a wide range of sanitary safety processes, measures and sanitary processes before the INVIMA, as well as sanctioning processes of the Health Secretariats and other authorities with regulatory powers.

National and multinational companies: Advice on structuring business models in the health and care industry as well as consulting on clinical trials, ethics committees, import and export of human genetic material.

Research Entities: Advice on the structuring of research, science and technology regulations for R&D and clinical research projects.

National and multinational companies: Advice on the implementation of innovation systems, confidential information protocols, processes for the generation of intellectual property strategies & policies and customized intellectual property counseling.

Local pharmaceutical companies: Advice for the structuring of strategies for freedom to operate and technological searches in order to know business opportunities for drugs in the Colombian market and clear doubts about the freedom to operate.

Local and multinational companies: Analysis of regulatory aspects in complex due diligences during mergers and acquisitions transactions, in order to determine not only the viability of the products and the success of the transaction, but also the best way to materialize the transaction before the regulatory entities INVIMA and ICA.

Education