Eli Lilly and Company v. Canada (ICSID Case No. UNCT/14/2), Expert Report of Gilda Gonzalez Carmona (September 26, 2014)
I. Background & Qualifications
1. My name is Gilda Gonzalez Carmona and I reside in Mexico City, Mexico. I submit this written witness statement in English and in Spanish, which is my native language. If called to testify in person, I would intend to testify in Spanish. I confirm that I have no relationship to Eli Lilly and Company or any of its affiliates.
2. I graduated from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico in 1995, and hold a Master’s degree in Private Law from the Centro De Estudios De Posgrado En Derecho (Center of Graduate Studies in Law).
3. I worked for the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (“IMPI” for its acronym in Spanish) from 2002 to 2011. I started working at IMPI as Under Director of Unfair Competition Prevention in 2002, supervising enforcement proceedings for trademarks and patents, and invalidation proceedings filed as counter claims to infringement actions.
4. In 2006, I became Director of Intellectual Property Protection (IMPI’s litigation department), where my duties were mainly the supervision of all invalidation, cancellation, and infringement proceedings for both trademarks and patents, as well as proceedings related to the enforcement of copyright. Patent invalidation and infringement proceedings in Mexico are always heard in the first instance by IMPI’s litigation department, which is independent from the patent department where the filing and prosecution of patent applications takes place.
5. In 2009, I was appointed Deputy Director General of IMPI. As Deputy Director General, I was responsible for the areas of litigation, international affairs, systems, and support. I also was in charge of representing IMPI in negotiations of international treaties and in international and domestic promotion of technologies.
6. I am a Professor of Law at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México, where I have taught the Intellectual Property course since 2004.
7. Since 2011, I have served as Director General of the Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas, A.C. (Mexican Association of Producers of Phonograms and Videograms, A.C.), a non-profit organization integrated by multinational and national record companies in Mexico, and have worked as an independent consultant in the fields of trademarks and patent law.