Miguel Aznar

After brilliantly finishing his law degree at the Colegio Universitario Domingo de Soto (belonging to Universidad Complutense in his native city, Segovia (a beautiful historic city only 90 km from Madrid, worth at least one visit) he considered that it would be good for the Spanish judiciary to have him in their ranks.

He thus started preparing the official examination to become a judge for various years. Surprisingly, however, the judiciary did not share his opinion. Apparently, they decided that they could go on without him (a serious mistake? Who knows? At Balder we are quite happy about it, though).

He never considered, in any case, that these hard years devoted to studying were lost years. Quite to the contrary, they allowed him to obtain a very broad and deep knowledge of the law, something very useful in his professional life.

This new life started in 1992 with is joining what was already then one of the most important IP firms in Spain.

His work there was centered in the contentious-administrative area, both at Spanish and European Union level, and in the purely administrative, both in trademarks and in patents.

To mention just some of the most important cases in which he has intervened and which “have given me the opportunity to learn most in the practical aspect of law” we have to talk about the conflict on trademark NIKE in Spain, in its contentious aspect. Even more interesting was the judicial battle of the innovating pharma firms until the Supreme Court finally recognized the applicability of TRIPS to extend the protection of European patents validated as procedural patents to include product claims.

He has also been very successful at administrative level, especially in a rather “knotty” area, which fortunately is little known: the recovery of IP rights lost due to a mistake at some point of the processing via the reestablishment of rights (“restitutio in integrum”).

Miguel can be considered an expert in this matter. He was known at his prior firm as “Mr. Lumbered” [actually, it was Mr. Brown, from the Spanish “marrón”, which should rather not be translated]. Any case which a priori seemed impossible or difficult to overcome at EPO, WIPO or SPTO ended up on his desk. And, astonishingly, Miguel proved that impossible is a word he will not admit into his vocabulary.

After 20 years in his former firm, he starts a new professional phase at BALDER. He intends to stay here for at least another 20 years, doing what he has always liked best: work for his clients.

As a good native of Segovia, he is totally in love with his city and its surroundings. He is willing to share the secret routes in and near Segovia with others who, like him, are passionate about arts and nature. But this love of his city is perfectly compatible with his passion for Madrid. So many nice places to discover here, especially its restaurants…