Founded in 1991, Pérez Alati Grondona Benites Arntsen & Martínez de Hoz is one of the largest general practice law firms in Argentina. The firm has over 150 members and clients of its IP practice include Red Bull, Telefónica, British Gas, American Express Bank, UBS, Merrill Lynch, Honda, Hewlett Packard and Exxon Mobil.
"The quality is very good," said one client. "They really understand all the issues and are very proactive. With Pérez Alati we have a response the same day or the following day at the latest. That's really important for me because I have a huge volume of work."
A competitor noted: "They are serious, they are professional – they are doing things well."
In June 2010, the firm requested a permanent injunction on behalf of Telefónica de Argentina banning a competitor, Claudio Spena, from using the trade mark Telefónica in his telephone booth stores. Spena and Telefónica had a licence agreement, which is now being unilaterally terminated by Telefónica. The case is a development from older precedents, which ruled that interlocutory injunctions should not be granted if the parties were terminating a licence agreement or a contractual dispute. In September 2010, the firm represented the Ricciardi family, owners of the well-known Ricciardi jewellery shop. The family had owned the trade mark Ricciardi for over 40 years but as older relatives retired and closed the store, the trade mark was not renewed. It was subsequently filed by businessman Jeffrey Alberto Benzadon, who used it to open his own jewellery store. The outcome of the case may set an important precedent.