Maximiliano Santa Cruz is a lawyer from the University of Chile and LL.M from the University of San Francisco, CA, USA.
During his career, he has been appointed as a leader for different organizations worldwide. For nine years he directed the National Institute of Industrial Property (INAPI), Chile’s trademark and patent office. In three opportunities, INAPI was chosen as the best public service in Chile. In these years, the organization has been at the forefront of the digital transformation of the State, being the first public service authorized to telework (35% of staff). It is also one of the 21 most important patent offices in the world and in April 2019 it was chosen as the second most innovative intellectual property office in the world by World Trademark Review.
During his years in Geneva, Switzerland, Mr. Santa Cruz chaired the Standing Committee on Patents (SCP) and the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Working Group. He held this position for two terms. He was vice president of the Permanent Committee on Trademarks (SCT) at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), for which he is currently a consultant. He was also a negotiator of the intellectual property chapters in several of Chile’s free trade agreements, such as those with the European Union, the European Free Trade Area, Korea, the P4 and the United States.
He was one of the three arbitrators in the dispute over Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer between the US and China in the World Trade Organization. In addition, he is a consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Bank, and of the European Union (EU).
He participates in different initiatives related to intellectual property, such as the Academic Council of the Smart IP for Latin America project, of the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition. Between 2011 and 2021 Mr. Santa Cruz served as the Chair of the Expert Advisory Group of the Medicines Patent Pool. This initiative aims to improve the health of people in developing countries living with HIV, Hepatitis C, Tuberculosis, Cancer and the recent Covid-19, through the negotiation of drug licenses with innovative companies. Today, he is part of its Board. He is also a member of the Board of The Lens (lens.org), an organization that seeks to democratize access to scientific knowledge and patents.
He frequently publishes on intellectual property issues, and has served as a professor of intellectual property at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and the Finis Terrae University.
1990- 1995 Lawyer from the Faculty of Law, Universidad de Chile Santiago, Chile.
2001- 2002 International Transactions and Comparative Law, Concentration on Intellectual Property, University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA, United States.
2018 “Intellectual Property in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement: How far beyond the existing FTAs does it go?”.
2019 “The Twenty-First Century Intellectual Property Office”.
2019 “First teleworking pilot in the State of Chile” (Chapter). University Press-FLACSO. Maximiliano Santa Cruz S. and Felipe Welch P. Enrique Paris and Jorge Rodríguez editors.
2018 “The evolution of unfair competition in Chile: foundations, enforcement experience and significance vis à vis intellectual property rights”.
2018 «Intellectual Property in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement».
2018 “Emergencies in the innovation and patent systems in Chile”.
2018 “Chile, actor of the multilateral system: A national tradition”.
2016 «Intellectual Property: recognition of innovation».
2016 «Intellectual Property Offices of the 21st Century».
2015 «Interaction between IP and competition». <http://e15initiative.org/publications/interaction-between-intellectual-property-and-competition-laws/> .
2015 «Intellectual Property».
2014 “Start-Up Chile.”
2012 “WTO Panel on United States – Section 110(5) of the US Copyright Act”
2010 “Normative Compilation in Intellectual Property.”
2009 “A Review of Recent Developments at the Multilateral Level with Respect to Intellectual Property and the Pharmaceutical Industry.”
2008 The A2K (Access to Knowledge) Challenge”.
2007 Intellectual Property Rights and Sustainable Development: A Survey of Major Issues.
2007 “Intellectual property provisions in the European Union Trade Agreements and implications for developing countries.”
2006 “Intellectual property rights in free trade agreements concluded by Latin American countries with developed countries”.