ÁM

Ángela Martínez López Spain

Expert
Spain Spanish (Spain) Resident in Belgium Spanish — Fluent Spanish — Fluent French — Fluent German — Fluent Italian — Fluent

Surname
Martínez López
First name
Ángela
Current professional position
IP Specialist
Organisation / firm
Independent
Country of residence
Belgium
Nationality
Spanish (Spain)
Languages spoken & proficiency
SpanishFluent SpanishFluent FrenchFluent GermanFluent ItalianFluent

Expert
Expert
Professional biography
Ángela Martínez is a Spanish-qualified lawyer specialising in international and EU intellectual property (IP) law. She has developed her career in both the private and public sectors, working at the international and EU levels. Through these roles, she has gained extensive experience spanning several areas of IP, including patents, trade marks, designs and geographical indications. She has also received training in the mediation of IP disputes. Ángela has devoted most of her career to plant variety rights and plant-related patents. In her manager-level roles in this field, she has prepared submissions for the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO); advised on plant variety rights; overseen legal proceedings and drafted decisions in several official EU languages on plant variety rights; defended cases before the Court of Justice of the European Union; lectured at universities; served on an institutional committee on plant variety denominations (plant names); contributed to policy development through several institutional expert working groups; and managed interinstitutional cooperation projects. Alongside her institutional work, Ángela serves as the EU Affairs Correspondent for the European IP Review and regularly publishes articles and book chapters on a range of IP matters. Two of her research projects have received awards from notorious IP entities. Ángela holds degrees in Spanish and Anglo-American law, as well as LL.M. degrees in European Legal Studies and in IP and ICT Law from prestigious universities. She has also completed several postgraduate university courses, including one on the interplay between artificial intelligence and intellectual property law.

Legal / dispute expertise
European patents Trademarks Other OtherPLANT VARIETY RIGHTS; GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS
Technical expertise
Agriculture & plant breeding
Industries
Pharmaceuticals & life sciences

Education (degrees)
Degree in Law, LL.M. Degrees in European Legal Studies and in Intellectual Property and ICT Law
Institutional panels & memberships
Other OtherReceived training on mediation from a university and an institution
Publications and/or speaking engagements

(Publication) Reviewing the Legal Framework of the Community (EU) Plant Variety Rights System: Reform Proposals Concerning Variety Denominations, July 2025, European Intellectual Property Review 47(7):363─378. (Publication) When Geographical Indications and Plant Variety Denominations Collide: Champagne Case Study, Oct. 2024, European Intellectual Property Review 46(10):624─637. (Publication) Entries "Community Plant Variety Rights' System" and "Community Plant Variety Office", October 2024, Encyclopaedia of Intellectual Property Law, ed. by Dr. P. Torremans et al, Edward Elgar Publishing. (Publication) Transfer of Ownership of a Community (EU) Plant Variety Right: All you Need to know, June 2023, European Intellectual Property Review, 45(7):376-384. (Publication) Prescription of Claims Against Infringements of EU Plant Variety Rights: the Interpretation of the Court of Justice of the European Union in José Cánovas Pardo (C-186/18), Dec. 2022, European Intellectual Property Review, 44(12):719─730. (Publication) Opinion G3/19: the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office finds that products obtained from essentially biological processes are not patentable subject matter, May 2022, European Intellectual Property Review, 44(5):283─299. (Publication) Interface between Trade Marks and Plant Variety Denominations: Towards Clearer Coexistence at International and EU level, Sept. 2020, KULeuven. (Publication) Revisiting the CJEU Mutagenesis Ruling and its impact on the EU plant breeding sector, Bioscience Law Review, April 2020, 17(4):144─161. (Panelist) Biotechnology and IP Protection for Plant-Related Inventions”, 2022, Seminar of the French Comité Technique Permanent de la Sélection (CTPS), French Ministry of Agriculture. (Trainer) Licensing Plant Variety Rights, 2022, Class for IP trainees.