Maximiliano Santa Cruz

SENIOR COUNSEL

He was Senior Counsel of Aninat Schwencke Before Aninat Abogados.

Founder and CEO of Santa Cruz IP, where he advises on intellectual property design, innovation and technology transfer strategies for companies, universities and governments to add value, create identity and generate competitive advantages.

He was previously National Director of INAPI, Chile’s patent and trademark office, from its creation in 2009 until October 2018, after being selected through the Senior Public Management System. INAPI is a government agency of 180 people and 109 external patent examiners. It manages an annual budget of US$ 11 million and generates US$ 20.8 million. 

Since its creation in 2009, INAPI has become a institution of reference in Latin America and the world, with a particular focus on technology transfer and innovation. INAPI has carried out a comprehensive reform of the industrial property system, including the launch of a national strategy on industrial property, its designation as one of 21 International Patent Search Authorities in the world, alongside offices such as the US, European, Canada, India, China and Russia, and a new industrial property bill.

In 2016 and 2019 it was chosen as one of the three best public services in Chile, obtaining the Institutional Excellence Award, and in 2017 and 2018 it was a finalist for the National Innovation Award – Avonni (public category), and in March 2019 the World Trademark Review magazine chose INAPI as the second most innovative office in the world in the field of trademarks. In December 2016, INAPI was authorized by law to be the first and only public service in Chile to implement telecommuting (35% of its staff) and has also been recognized for being at the forefront of government modernization, particularly in terms of digital transformation, including being a paperless digital office and having incorporated artificial intelligence in its processes. While at INAPI he was the promoter of the idea of creating the first technology transfer law for Chile, so that all public funds for R&D&I would have a single regulation. This law is currently being drafted.

Previously, he was counselor at the Chilean mission to the WTO, WIPO and UNCTAD in Geneva, with responsibilities as an intellectual property negotiator at the WTO, WIPO and the World Health Organization (WHO) that led him not only to represent Chile’s interests, but also to actively participate and generate consensus in several milestones of the international IP system in recent years. Among them, having chaired the WIPO Standing Committee on the Law of Patents for two terms; successfully pushing Chile’s proposal on the public domain in the WIPO Development Agenda and helping to overcome the gaps in the final stage of the negotiations of the WIPO Strategy and Plan of Action for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Between 1999 and 2004 he was head of the intellectual property department and part of the trade policy department of the General Directorate of International Economic Relations (DIRECON). In this capacity he was the chief negotiator of the intellectual property group in the free trade agreements (FTA) between Chile and the European Union; the European Free Trade Association (EFTA); the Republic of Korea; and the Agreement between Chile, New Zealand, Singapore and Brunei (known as P4). He also participated in the agreement with the United States and in other forums, such as APEC, the FTAA, the WTO and WIPO. His responsibilities also included the implementation of the different FTAs into national legislation and the drafting of legislation on intellectual property issues. He also founded the Intellectual Property Unit in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

  • Lawyer, University of Chile, School of Law, 1995. 
  • LLM International Transactions and Comparative Law, Concentration on Intellectual Property, University of San Francisco, 2002.
  • Intellectual property, innovation and technology transfer.
  • “Intellectual Property in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement: How far beyond the existing FTAs does it go?” In The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement: Its Substance and Impact on International Trade, NAFTA, and Other FTAs. Maximiliano Santa Cruz S. and Denisse Pérez. Cambridge University Press. Jorge Huerta and David Gantz editors. To be published in 2018. 
  • “The Twenty-First Century Intellectual Property Office” (Chapter) in the book “Intellectual Property and Development: Understanding the Interfaces – A tribute to Pedro Roffe” . Springer Publishing. Maximiliano Santa Cruz S. and Catalina Olivos B. March 2019. 
  • “First pilot of telework in the State of Chile” (Chapter). Editorial Universitaria-FLACSO. Maximiliano Santa Cruz S. and Felipe Welch P. Enrique París and Jorge Rodríguez editors. February 2019. 
  • “The evolution of unfair competition in Chile: foundations, enforcement experience and significance vis à vis intellectual property rights” (Chapter). Maximiliano Santa Cruz S. and Pilar Trivelli. Cambridge University Press. To be published in 2018.
  • “Urgencies in the innovation and patent systems in Chile”.
  • Maximiliano Santa Cruz S. and Esteban Figueroa N. Revista Diplomacia Nº138 Academia Diplomática de Chile. July 2018. 
  • “Chile, actor of the multilateral system: A national tradition” (Chapter). Juan Somavía and Pedro Oyarce editors. Chapter “Chile and international intellectual property law: the challenges and opportunities of an active and balanced diplomacy”. Maximiliano Santa Cruz Scantlebury and Pedro Roffe Rosenfeld. Diplomatic Academy of Chile, Min. of Foreign Affairs. March 2018. 
  • “Intellectual Property: the recognition of innovation”. Revista Diplomacia Nº133 – December 2016, Santiago, Chile. https://issuu.com/apuntesinternacionales/docs/revista_diplo macia_133_diciembre_20 
  • “Intellectual Property Offices of the 21st Century. WIPO Magazine. November 2016. http://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2016/si/article_0005.h tml. 
  • Monthly column in the newspaper Estrategia (until the end of the printed edition of the newspaper at the end of 2016). 
  • Chapter “Intellectual Property in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement” in Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement edited by David Gantz and Jorge Huerta to be published by Cambridge University Press in 2018. Maximiliano Santa Cruz and Denisse Pérez. 
  • “Interaction between PI and competition”. Reflection piece for the E15 Initiative. Maximiliano Santa Cruz and Pilar Trivelli. 2015. http://e15initiative.org/publications/interaction-betweenintellectual-property-and-competition-laws/. 
  • Chapter “Intellectual Property” in Chile’s Guide to Free Trade Agreements: 10 years after the FTA with the United States.
  • Edited by Ricardo Lagos Weber and Juan Araya Allende. Valparaíso, Chile. Catholic University of Valparaíso. 2015. 
  • “Normative Compilation in Intellectual Property.” First edition in 2010 and second in 2015 by INAPI. Maximiliano Santa Cruz, Marcos Morales, Sergio Escudero, Adán González, Ignacio Villalabeitía, Carolina Belmar and others. Santiago, Chile. Lexis Nexis and INAPI, respectively. 
  • “Start-Up Chile.” WIPO Magazine. Maximiliano Santa Cruz S., National Director of the National Institute of Industrial Property, Maximiliano Santa Cruz S., Eduardo Bitrán C., Executive Vice President and Inti Núñez U., Manager of Entrepreneurship of CORFO (Chile). 
  • September 2014. http://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2014/05/article_0006.html 
  • “WTO Panel on United States – Section 110(5) of the US Copyright Act” (chapter) in Research Handbook on The Interpretation and Enforcement of Intellectual Property Under WTO Rules – Intellectual Property in the WTO Volume 
  • Edited by Carlos M. Correa, Director, Centro de Estudios Interdisciplinarios de Propiedad Industrial y Economía, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2012. http://www.eelgar.co.uk/bookentry_main.lasso?currency=US&id=13931 
  • “A Review of Recent Developments at the Multilateral Level with Respect to Intellectual Property and the Pharmaceutical Industry.” Maximiliano Santa Cruz and Pedro Roffe. In: Journal of Generic Medicines: The Business Journal for the Generic Medicines Sector August 2009 vol. 6no. 4 323-331.http://intl-jgm.sagepub.com/content/6/4/323.abstract 
  • The A2K (Access to Knowledge) Challenge”. Third Conference on Access to Knowledge (A2K3). WIPO Magazine. December 2008. 
  • “Intellectual Property in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement: How far beyond the existing FTAs does it go?” In The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement: Its Substance and Impact on International Trade, NAFTA, and Other FTAs.
  • Maximiliano Santa Cruz S. and Denisse Pérez. Cambridge University Press. Jorge Huerta and David Gantz editors. To be published in 2018. 
  • “The Twenty-First Century Intellectual Property Office”(Chapter) in the book “Intellectual Property and Development: Understanding the Interfaces – A tribute to Pedro Roffe” . Springer Publishing. Maximiliano Santa Cruz S. and Catalina Olivos B. March 2019. 
  • “First pilot of telework in the State of Chile” (Chapter). Editorial Universitaria-FLACSO. Maximiliano Santa Cruz S. and Felipe Welch P. Enrique París and Jorge Rodríguez editors. February 2019. 
  • “The evolution of unfair competition in Chile: foundations, enforcement experience and significance vis à vis intellectual property rights” (Chapter). Maximiliano Santa Cruz S. and Pilar Trivelli. Cambridge University Press. To be published in 2018. 
  • “Urgencies in the innovation and patent systems in Chile”.
  • Maximiliano Santa Cruz S. and Esteban Figueroa N. Revista Diplomacia Nº138 Academia Diplomática de Chile. July 2018. 
  • “Chile, actor of the multilateral system: A national tradition” (Chapter). Juan Somavía and Pedro Oyarce editors. Chapter “Chile and international intellectual property law: the challenges and opportunities of an active and balanced diplomacy”. Maximiliano Santa Cruz Scantlebury and Pedro Roffe Rosenfeld. Diplomatic Academy of Chile, Min. of Foreign Affairs. March 2018. 
  • “Intellectual Property: the recognition of innovation”. Revista Diplomacia Nº133 – December 2016, Santiago, Chile. https://issuu.com/apuntesinternacionales/docs/revista_diplo macia_133_diciembre_20 
  • “Intellectual Property Offices of the 21st Century. WIPO Magazine. November 2016. http://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2016/si/article_0005.h tml. 
  • Monthly column in the newspaper Estrategia (until the end of the printed edition of the newspaper at the end of 2016). 
  • Chapter “Intellectual Property in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement” in Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement edited by David Gantz and Jorge Huerta to be published by Cambridge University Press in 2018. Maximiliano Santa Cruz and Denisse Pérez. 
  • “Interaction between PI and competition”. Reflection piece for the E15 Initiative. Maximiliano Santa Cruz and Pilar Trivelli.http://e15initiative.org/publications/interaction-betweenintellectual-property-and-competition-laws/. 
  • Chapter “Intellectual Property” in Chile’s Guide to Free Trade Agreements: 10 years after the FTA with the United States. Edited by Ricardo Lagos Weber and Juan Araya Allende. Valparaíso, Chile. Catholic University of Valparaíso. 2015. 
  • “Normative Compilation in Intellectual Property.” First edition in 2010 and second in 2015 by INAPI. Maximiliano Santa Cruz, Marcos Morales, Sergio Escudero, Adán González, Ignacio Villalabeitía, Carolina Belmar and others. Santiago, Chile. Lexis Nexis and INAPI, respectively. 
  • “Start-Up Chile.” WIPO Magazine. Maximiliano Santa Cruz S., National Director of the National Institute of Industrial Property, Maximiliano Santa Cruz S., Eduardo Bitrán C., Executive Vice President and Inti Núñez U., Manager of Entrepreneurship of CORFO (Chile). September 2014. http://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2014/05/article_0006. html 
  • “WTO Panel on United States – Section 110(5) of the US
  • Copyright Act” (chapter) in Research Handbook on The Interpretation and Enforcement of Intellectual Property Under WTO Rules – Intellectual Property in the WTO Volume 
  1. Edited by Carlos M. Correa, Director, Centro de Estudios Interdisciplinarios de Propiedad Industrial y Economía, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2012. http://www.eelgar.co.uk/bookentry_main.lasso?currency=US&id=13931 
  • “A Review of Recent Developments at the Multilateral Level with Respect to Intellectual Property and the Pharmaceutical Industry.” Maximiliano Santa Cruz and Pedro Roffe. In: Journal of Generic Medicines: The Business Journal for the Generic Medicines Sector August 2009 vol. 6no. 4 323-331.http://intl-jgm.sagepub.com/content/6/4/323.abstract 
  • The A2K (Access to Knowledge) Challenge”. Third Conference on Access to Knowledge (A2K3). WIPO Magazine. December 2008. http://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2008/06/article_0007 .html 
  • Intellectual Property Rights and Sustainable Development: A Survey of Major Issues. Pedro Roffe and Maximiliano Santa Cruz. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). Project documents collection. Santiago, Chile. Santiago, Chile. December 2007. 
  • http://www.eclac.org/publicaciones/xml/7/32167/W161.pdf. “Intellectual property provisions in the European Union Trade
  • Agreements and implications for developing countries.” Maximiliano Santa Cruz. International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD). Issue paper No. 7. Geneva, Switzerland. June 2007. In 

http://www.iprsonline.org/resources/docs/SantaCruz%20Blue20.pdf. 

  • “Intellectual property rights in free trade agreements concluded by Latin American countries with developed countries”. Pedro Roffe and Maximiliano Santa Cruz. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean 

(ECLAC), International Trade series. Santiago, Chile, April 

  1. In 

http://www.eclac.cl/publicaciones/xml/8/25978/S70CI-L2527eP.pdf. 

  • Since 2009, he has been a professor in the Intellectual Property Diploma of the Catholic University. 
  • Professor in the Master in Innovation and New Technologies at the University of Chile. 
  • Professor of Intellectual Property at Finisterrae University.
  • Member of the ProBono Foundation.