Meythaler & Zambrano Abogados > Quito, Ecuador > Firm Profile

Meythaler & Zambrano Abogados > Firm Profile

Meythaler & Zambrano Abogados specializes in national and international legal-counseling and litigation for international and domestic corporations. The firm easily understands legal and economic issues related to the performance and operations of companies under Ecuadorian law; these achievements have enabled the firm to be recognized as one of the largest and most important law firms in the country. Our main clients are important operators from research and development pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology, medical devices, tourism, food and beverages and cosmetics undertakings from local and foreign sectors.

The firm covers the following areas: regulatory counsel (mostly pharmaceutical, cosmetic, agrochemical sectors), intellectual property, competition and antitrust, corporate and commercial affairs, dispute resolution, taxes, public procurement and public law, labor, criminal, constitutional and legal research. Our comprehensive legal advice has provided greater efficiency in the rendering of legal services and a process simplification in the way we handle claims, cases, counselling and any other inquiries.

Meythaler & Zambrano Abogados’ values are the honest and efficient practice of law; our domestic and international clients require expert attorneys to handle their operations with ethics and plenty experience in the practice of laws, thus preventing corrupt-practices.

Our firm has offices in the main cities of Ecuador: Quito and Guayaquil. These offices work throughout Ecuador and belong to a wide network of correspondents in America, Asia and Europe. We are part of the International Bar Association (IBA), International Trademark Association (INTA); Intellectual Property Association (ASIPI), Ecuadorian Association of Mediation and Ecuadorian Association of Taxation Law.

Areas of practice
Regulatory and market access: The firm provides strategic-counsel and skillful advocacy in regulated industries. The practice covers all aspects of clients who oversee product development, manufacturing and marketing activities. The firm is specialized on pharmaceutical, medical device, food, cosmetic, dietary supplement, agrochemical products, among others. To add, the firm is involved in their clients’ market strategies and their implementation, including product development, clinical investigations, expedited review and approval pathways, dispute resolution, label negotiations, inspection down-raids, assessment of exclusivity protection, advising on labeling, advertising and promotion, adverse event reporting, product recalls, good manufacturing practices, counterclaims to agency enforcement actions, patent term extension and others.

Intellectual property: The firm is one of the most recognized Ecuadorian firms in this area. The firm´s legal advice focuses in helping individuals and businesses protect, manage and enforce their intellectual property rights and handle complex prosecution, enforcement and dispute resolution mandates. Likewise, we have broad expertise in anti-counterfeiting and reviewing licensing agreements. Also, patents and trademarks remain a key area for the team, this area represents a broad array of domestic and international clients from various sectors, in which stands out pharmaceutical companies, retail and entertainment companies.

Competition and antitrust: The firm provides expert council in complex legal issues in the areas of competition law: abuse of dominant position, concerted and prohibited practices, mergers, acquisitions and, disloyal practices. The firm specializes in the pharmaceutical and agrochemical sectors, distribution networks, food and beverages, cosmetics, being able to address any matter related to competition law.

Corporate and commercial affairs: The firm mainly advises clients in aspects related with the planning and structuring of their operations in the country, the establishment of partnerships in various sectors of the economy such as pharmaceutical, agrochemical sectors, major due diligence processes, among others. The firm also participates in the designing of business structures, preparation and negotiation of agreements from a corporate perspective and the development of our clients’ interests.

Dispute resolution: The firm runs multiple cases of considerable legal complexity in arbitration and mediation, civil litigation (generally corporate and commercial) administrative litigation (tax, customs, regulatory, intellectual property, criminal and competition law) and criminal litigation, most of them related to commercial, corporate, financial, investment, and technical disputes.

Tax: The firm has an exceptional tax department highly skilled in representing clients in litigation proceedings before authorities such as Internal Revenue Service, the Constitutional-Court, Customs; providing tax advice related to all corporate and financial activities, loan structures and corporate finance projects in Ecuador.

Public procurement and public law: The firm offers public law practice advising on both constitutional and administrative matters before State Authorities. The firm is well regarded for assisting clients with competitive tendering and public procurement processes, as well as on public audit and regulation-control matters.

Labour: The firm offers comprehensive labor consultancy; including the drafting of employee contracts, social security registration and administration, presentation of company obligations before authorities, negotiation, business re-organization, litigation, labor inspections, and other crucial decisions which require legal advice for business operations.

Real estate: Purchase sale contracts, exchanges and donations, divisions, partitions and separations, declarations of horizontal property and common spaces regulations, rectification and legalization of titles and land registry.

Migration: Obtaining of visas, naturalization of foreigners, recognition of Ecuadorian nationality, processing and obtaining of identity cards, censuses, migratory movements, military permits, exit permits and other documentation of a migratory nature.

Consultation and legal research: preparation of studies and legal research, in each of the fields of law, analysis of current national and international legislation.

Senior contacts
J.D. José Meythaler is the chairman and main partner of Meythaler & Zambrano Abogados. Since his career commencement as litigant attorney in 1988, he has represented national and multinational companies on matters related to public law, corporate law, intellectual property, competition law, investment-arbitration, oil law, banking law, pharmaceutical law among others.

J.D. Margarita Zambrano is the manager, legal representative and main partner of Meythaler & Zambrano Abogados. Has been appointed by her colleagues as one of the best attorney within the intellectual property field. She is a fine member of ASIPI, ICCE, Responsible for the Technical Secretariat of the Ecuadorian Representative of Commission and Academic Agenda of Cyrus R. Vance Center of New York City Bar Association for the WIP program.

Comparative Guides

• Ecuador: Patent Litigation

  Published: October 2022

  Authors: JD. José R. Meythaler Baquero Sebastian Meythaler Maricruz Cepeda

  This country-specific Q&A provides an overview to Patent Litigation laws and regulations that may occur in Ecuador.