Milestones and legacy

Julio de Vizcarrondo, together with his wife Henriette Brewster Cornell, founded an intellectual property firm, which is currently the oldest in Spain. In its early days, Elzaburu specialized in trademarks and privileges, the precursors to patents.

In 1875, we obtained our first patent, and in 1878, the last one for our firm and for Spain (Patent No. 5,909). Specifically, it concerned improvements to the assembly of cannons by Alfred Krupp, an inventor who registered more than 800 inventions throughout his career.

Our first patent was No. 3

On July 30, 1878, the Patent Act was enacted. Under this law, the former “privileges” were renamed “patents,” mandatory publication of inventions was introduced, and the term of patents was limited, marking a turning point in industrial property law.

The first patent we registered was Patent No. 3, issued to Alfred Le Grand and Robert Sutcliff: “Improvements in the method of drilling or boring wells and in the apparatus or accessories related to such an operation, as well as for the insertion of pipes for any other purpose.”

We handled Nestlé's first registration in Spain

The Paris Convention marked a particularly significant milestone for the protection of trademarks and patents. This agreement established fundamental principles, such as the right of priority in registrations, and created a common framework for the signatory countries. Shortly before that, we registered the Nestlé trademark for the first time in Spain, at a time when the company was undergoing rapid international expansion.

Thomas Edison and Graham Bell, major clients of the firm

Driven by technological advances, the firm grew, and we witnessed the birth of great inventions such as the incandescent light bulb, invented by Thomas Alva Edison (one of the greatest inventors of all time, with more than a thousand patents), and the telephone, invented by Graham Bell. These two great inventors became distinguished clients of our firm, trusting us to protect their innovations.

We protect one of the earliest brands of what we now know as Unilever

The Madrid Agreement allowed companies to extend protection for their distinctive signs to other countries through a single international application, which facilitated the process of internationalizing trademarks.

Shortly before that, we were already protecting trademarks such as the British company Lever Brothers, one of Unilever's founding companies.

We accompanied James Bartlett Hammond as he registered his typewriter

The United International Bureaus for the Protection of Intellectual Property (BIRPI), the forerunners of today's WIPO, were founded. This organization was the result of the merger of the bureaus created to administer the Paris Convention and the Berne Convention, with the aim of ensuring that entrepreneurs, inventors, and authors enjoyed similar protection in all countries.

We continue to protect some of humanity's greatest inventions, such as the typewriter, invented by James Bartlett Hammond, and the sewing machine, invented by Isaac Merritt Singer.

We protect perfume bottles from the current Puig

In response to the growing industrialization of the time, industrial models and designs were incorporated into Spanish law for the first time. Among the first designs we handled were some from Perfumerías Gal (now Puig), cigarette papers from Yborra and José Laporta, and the famous playing cards from Heraclio Fournier.

2nd generation: Francisco de Elzaburu Vizcarrondo

Francisco de Elzaburu Vizcarrondo, Julio de Vizcarrondo’s nephew, took over as head of the firm. He was noted for his international outlook, his involvement with the BIRPI and the founding of the AIPPI, as well as his role in consolidating the profession of industrial property agent in Spain.

Juan de la Cierva, a client of the firm with more than 20 patents

Juan de la Cierva worked on various inventions related to improvements and advancements in the autogyro. His patents and developments were fundamental to the design and operation of modern helicopters, as well as to laying the groundwork for aviation safety. We supported him throughout the entire registration and protection process, ultimately leading to what is now considered the safest and easiest-to-fly aircraft.

From the iconic Coca-Cola bottle to Harley-Davidson and Puig

Throughout our history, we have been involved in the early stages of numerous companies. We have supported Perfumerías Gal (now Puig) since its founding and have helped brands such as Harley-Davidson enter the Spanish market.

In 1919, we registered the first Coca-Cola trademark in Spain, and in 1929, we secured design patents for its iconic bottle as well as its first metal coolers. That same year, the new Industrial Property Statute was enacted, introducing key improvements to the protection of patents, trademarks, and industrial designs.

3rd generation: Alberto de Elzaburu Fernández.

Alberto de Elzaburu, with the support of his brother Óscar de Elzaburu, took the reins of the firm during one of its most difficult periods: the Spanish Civil War. During this time, our headquarters moved to San Sebastián before returning to Madrid at the end of the conflict. Despite the wars of that era (in Spain and Europe), we continued our operations without interruption and took charge of managing the payment of all fees (sometimes even making advance payments) to ensure that all our clients would retain their rights once the conflict had ended.

A century of history, overcoming challenges.

After 100 years of uninterrupted activity, during which we have weathered historic events such as the Spanish Civil War, World War I and World War II, and the Second Industrial Revolution, we joyfully celebrate our centennial.

Amid growing international cooperation, the Convention establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization came into force, transforming the BIRPI into WIPO. This change strengthened cooperation among countries and promoted the harmonization of laws and practices, adapting to emerging technological and commercial challenges and consolidating a global intellectual property protection system.

4th generation: Alberto de Elzaburu Márquez

Alberto de Elzaburu became president of the firm in 1970, professionalizing it and establishing its international reputation. Under his leadership, ELZABURU actively participated in the leading professional forums and associations in the field of industrial property, contributing to major international milestones, such as the inclusion of Spanish as an official language of the AIPPI in 1972.

Spain has acceded to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), an international system that simplifies and standardizes the process of filing patent applications in multiple countries. For us, this accession represented a key opportunity to strengthen our global patent management capabilities, consolidating our position as leaders in strategic consulting and international industrial property proceedings.

Spain joined the European Union, a key step that marked the beginning of the modernization of the legal framework for industrial and intellectual property with the enactment of fundamental laws that reshaped the landscape of intellectual property protection in the country: the Patent Law (1986), the Intellectual Property Law (1987), the Trademark Law (1988), and the Unfair Competition Law (1991).

The OEPM replaced the former Industrial Property Registry. This change marked a decisive step toward the modernization of the Spanish industrial property system, with more efficient procedures and a structure better aligned with European and international standards. As a firm, we witnessed and actively participated in this new institutional phase.

We are witnessing the early days of the EUIPO

The creation of the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (now the EUIPO) opened up new avenues for European cooperation and administered new industrial property rights, such as Community trademarks and designs. Alberto de Elzaburu played a key role in the campaign to have the office established in Spain.

AIPPI

We were the first law firm to register a Community trademark with OHIM on behalf of AIPPI. The introduction of this system significantly improved the service we offered our clients, expanding their protection options and facilitating more efficient management in the European market.

We bring together Litigation, Anti-Piracy, and Business & Contracts within the Legal Department

We established the Legal Department, which encompasses Litigation, Anti-Piracy, and Business & Contracts, thereby formalizing a practice that the firm had already been developing. This structure allowed us to better respond to the growing demand for the protection, management, and enhancement of our clients’ intangible assets, in addition to professionalizing our copyright-related services.

We registered Design No. 21 for Mercedes-Benz

The OHIM has begun accepting Community designs, expanding the options for protecting creativity and industrial design in Europe. We were among the first applicants, and our earliest registrations include the design of a Mercedes-Benz car and a Mitsubishi pen.

We handle cases that have changed legal precedent

International trademark registrations in Spanish are now accepted, and Elzaburu has become the first law firm to handle this type of registration, providing our clients with more direct and effective protection in international markets. That same year, the Commercial Courts and the Community Trademark Court began operations, marking the advent of judicial specialization in Spain—a long-standing priority for the firm’s litigation attorneys.

In addition, at the beginning of the 21st century, we were involved in cases that have changed case law, such as the first ruling on indirect patent infringement (the Technical Concept case), the first Stoppel ruling on patent invalidity (the Talgo case), and the first Supreme Court ruling on parallel imports (the Jack Daniel’s case).

Consulting on the management and strategic utilization of intangible assets

Fifteen years after the Legal Department was established, a department dedicated exclusively to Business and Contracts was created with the goal of professionalizing our services and better supporting our clients in the strategic and legal management of their assets. Since then, this team has continued to grow, adapt, and evolve to meet the changing needs of the market.

Intellectual Property for Cultural Projects

The boom and diversification of audiovisual and cultural productions presented new legal and strategic challenges. In response to this reality, Media&Entertainment was created—a practice area that combines legal and industry expertise to protect and promote cultural projects of all kinds: feature films, short films, series, animation, TV shows, reality shows, theater, musicals, and live performances.

5th generation: Alfonso Diez de Rivera Elzaburu and Ignacio Diez de Rivera Elzaburu

Alfonso and Ignacio Diez de Rivera Elzaburu, together with Mabel Klimt, took over the leadership of the firm, ushering in a new era that combines family tradition with strategic renewal. Since then, we have followed the roadmap we laid out with the same enthusiasm, taking on new challenges to maintain sustained growth and establish ourselves as a leader in the protection and defense of intellectual property.

We continue to grow and expand our range of services with our R&D&I project financing division, which was created to help our most innovative clients improve the profitability of their projects.

Over the past 50 years, we have processed more than 360,000 cases

As Spain’s oldest law firm, we have experienced both brilliant periods and deeply challenging ones, but we have always maintained a strong commitment to protecting and promoting intangible assets. For this reason, we are proud to say that since 1979 (the year we began our digitization process), we have registered more than 212,000 trademarks; 140,000 patents, designs, and plant varieties; and handled more than 1,500 IP lawsuits.