Reynaldo Urtiaga is a Partner at Bryan, Gonzalez Vargas & Gonzalez Baz, resident in the Mexico City office, and is the Head of the Firm’s Arbitration and Intellectual Property Practices. He has over 18 years of experience advising and representing US, European, and Asian corporations doing business in Mexico. His expertise spans across international commercial law, intellectual property law, administrative law, international trade, arbitration, cross-border litigation, among other subjects.
Mr. Urtiaga files and prosecutes domestic and international patent applications, design patent applications, trademark applications, and other applications with the Mexican Patent and Trademark Office (IMPI), and he represents clients in cancellation, setting aside, and infringement proceedings conducted by IMPI’s Trial and Enforcement Divisions.
Mr. Urtiaga also files, prosecutes, and represents clients before the Mexican Copyright Office (INDAUTOR). Mr. Urtiaga has served as party-appointed Expert on Mexican and International IP Law before the Federal Prosecutor’s Office (PGR, now FGR). In that capacity, he has submitted Expert Witness Opinions on trademark and copyright counterfeiting, online piracy, and misappropriation of trade secrets.
Mr. Urtiaga is admitted to practice before the IP specialist Chamber of the Federal Administrative Tribunal, and has obtained from that court favorable rulings to our clients. Mr. Urtiaga is also admitted to practice before all Federal Circuit Appellate Courts in Mexico, the Mexico City state courts, and the federal courts with Amparo jurisdiction, including the Mexican Supreme Court, before which he has argued.
Mr. Urtiaga is an International Arbitrator accredited by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (London), and is admitted to the Roster of Arbitrators or Panelists of a number of arbitral institutions and international organizations alike. He has acted as Sole Arbitrator, Co-arbitrator, Chair, Expert, and Counsel in domestic and international arbitrations, mediations, and expert determinations conducted in either English or Spanish over a broad range of disputes, practice areas, and industry sectors.
Mr. Urtiaga is a Doctor of Laws, a tenured Law Professor, and has served as party-appointed Expert on Mexican Law in US federal court proceedings and international arbitration proceedings.
+ Practice Areas
Intellectual Property Law (Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, Internet Domain Names, Trade Secrets, Unfair Competition)
Arbitration, Mediation
Expert Determination
Cross-Border Litigation
Government Contracts
International Commercial Agreements
USMCA
Health and Food Law
Data Privacy and Cybersecurity
Federal and State Transparency Laws
Anticorruption
+ Education
Doctor of Juridical Science with highest honors, 2019, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Master of Laws, 2001, The London School of Economics and Political Science
Postgraduate Diploma on International Commercial Arbitration, 2001, School of International Arbitration at Queen Mary, University of London
Postgraduate Diploma on Intellectual Property Law, 2000, Universidad Panamericana, CDMX
Bachelor of Laws with highest honors, 2000, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
+Admissions
Mexico (2000)
+ Languages
Spanish
English
French
+ Representative Matters
- At the request of US counsel, drafting an Expert Witness Declaration on Mexican substantive law, including Durango tort law, for filing with the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan Southern Division;
- At the request of US counsel, drafting an Expert Witness Declaration on Mexican substantive law, including Coahuila tort law, for filing with the US District Court for the Western District of Missouri;
- Assisted a US publicly-traded corporation to license its cutting-edge technology to a Mexican state’s public security agency;
- Has issued 170+ Decisions as WIPO Panelist (Sole Panelist, Panel Chair, and Co-Panelist) in domain name proceedings conducted in Spanish and English since 2004;
- Together with US co-counsel, advise a famous Mexican singer in the negotiation of a Life Story Rights Agreement to produce a Television Series for worldwide distribution;
- Has filed and successfully prosecuted 200+ PCT patent applications on behalf of foreign clients;
- Has successfully challenged Mexican Patent and Trademark Office rulings before the Federal Administrative Tribunal’s IP Chamber;
- Filed LDRP Complaints with the WIPO Mediation and Arbitration Center on behalf of a Japanese manufacturer of metal processing equipment and machinery, and obtained rulings from two Expert Panelists ordering transfer of Mexican domain names misappropriated by third parties;
- Assisted US counsel with service of process in Mexico under the 1965 Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters, and the Inter-American Convention of Letters Rogatory;
- Assisted foreign clients with the enforcement of foreign court judgments and foreign arbitral awards;
- Has successfully represented foreign clients in commercial litigation before federal and state courts in Mexico City;
- Filed amparo petitions and successfully challenged the constitutionality of measures and regulations from Mexican federal and state branches of government;
- Provided counsel to a Nicaraguan bank on its rights under a counter-guarantee governed by ICC Uniform rules for Demand Guarantees (URDG 758) for use in court proceedings filed in Tijuana, Baja California;
- Provided Expert witness testimony on Mexican federal administrative law to a US steel broker company participating in ICDR arbitration proceedings seated in NYC;
- Represented a US high-tech equipment’s manufacturer during the negotiation and performance of a US$115 million dollar contract with a Mexican federal agency;
- Assisted US counsel in requesting and obtaining Mexican federal public records for use in court litigation in Los Angeles, California;
- Assisted a US manufacturer of dietary supplements to obtain approval of products for import into and distribution in Mexico.
+ Professorships
- Professor of Law with tenure, from 2007, at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México teaching Arbitration Law and IP Law to undergraduate and postgraduate law students
+ Leadership Positions
- Chairman of the Mexico Chapter, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators’ North American Branch
- Director of the Arbitration Moot Court Program at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
+ Appointments
- Standing Panelist, WIPO Mediation and Arbitration Center
- Standing Panelist for PICDRP disputes, ICANN
- International Arbitrator, Court of Arbitration for Art (CAfA), The Hague
- Foreign Arbitrator CIETAC (Beijing, China)
- Foreign Arbitrator, Korean Commercial Arbitration Board (KCAB)
- Foreign Arbitrator, Shenzen Court of International Arbitration (SCIA)
- International Arbitrator, British Virgin Islands International Arbitration Center (BVI IAC)
- Arbitrator, Arbitration Center of Mexico (CAM)
- Arbitrator, Mexico City Chamber of Commerce (CANACO)
- Arbitrator, International Arbitration and Mediation Center (CIAM)