March 12th, 2026/
Team
ELZABURU
Antonio Castan
After more than 35 years of litigation experience in industrial and intellectual property and 25 years as a Partner at Elzaburu, we appoint Antonio Castán as Honorary Partner, in recognition of his career and his contribution to the development of the litigation area.
His professional career, always focused on the exercise of legal actions in industrial and intellectual property, has been marked by successes. Throughout these decades, he and his team have participated in highly relevant proceedings for rights holders in very diverse fields, from characters and works of popular culture, such as Tarzan or The SimpsonsFrom international brands and literary authors like Chesterton to sports figures such as Zinedine Zidane, he has also participated in complex litigation before Spanish courts in matters such as copyright, trademarks, and patents.
Antonio was also a Professor at the Pontifical University of Comillas and the author of numerous publications, including the books Plagiarism and other intellectual property studies, Intellectual Property and also, Poetry, Patents in the digital ecosystem and other studies on industrial property, Albert Camus in the light of copyright and, in 2026, Borges in the light of copyright law.
Although he held prominent positions in national and international rankings of the legal profession, Antonio has always pointed out that his greatest source of pride has been the team of lawyers who joined the ELZABURU Legal Department and to whom he sought to impart an example of dedication to customer service, loyalty to adversaries, procedural good faith, and intellectual and personal humility.
As he himself wrote: “In industrial and intellectual property there is always more to learn than you can teach.”
Training
- Bachelor of Laws from the Pontifical University of Comillas (ICADE, Madrid).
- Collegiate in 1985, Madrid.
"Antonio Castán is a well-regarded name in the IP field, particularly in relation to the defense of patent rights. Castán also maintains a reputation for his copyright knowledge. "Antonio Castán has experience, expertise and seniority."
Chambers Global
Associations of which he is a member
ALADDA (ALAI), ASEDA
Languages
Spanish, English
Awards
Throughout his career, Antonio Castán has received awards, tributes, and recognition from various publications, associations, and directories. These include the DENAE Awards, the AAAML (Association of Former Students of the Lucentinus Teacher Training College), and the ADEPI (Association for the Development of Intellectual Property) Awards. Furthermore, in 2025, he received the AIPPI Award: a commemorative book featuring 35 articles on intellectual property written by lawyers and professors specializing in the field.
Antonio Castan
- Honorary Partner
- ac@elzaburu.es
Associations of which he is a member
AIPPI, ALADDA (ALAI), INTA
Languages
Spanish, English
Seniority in the firm
1997
Training
- Lawyer (Comillas Pontifical University – ICADE, Madrid).
- Collegiate in 1985, Madrid.
Practice Areas
- Patents
- Industrial designs.
- Copyright and image rights.
- Brands and trade names.
- Litigation, arbitration, mediation.
- IP Media & Entertainment.
- Publishing sector.
Years of Experience
After 37 years of litigation in industrial and intellectual property, the last 25 as a Partner at ELZABURU SLP, Antonio Castán has had to retire from the legal profession due to an irreversible eye problem. Our Firm decided to name him “Honorary Partner”, in recognition of his career, so that he can maintain a symbolic and testimonial bond with us, with clients and with his professional colleagues.
His professional career, always focused on the exercise of judicial actions in industrial and intellectual property, has been marked by success. Antonio has defended such endearing characters as Tarzan, Lex Luthor and The Simpsons in court, but also writers like Chesterton or celebrities like Zinedine Zidane. He obtained for JACK DANIEL'S the first ruling of the Spanish Supreme Court on community exhaustion of trademark rights in a case of parallel imports and judicially guaranteed in Spain the position of the American beer brand BUDWEISER against the Czech company in the well-known conflict international. In a case of pharmaceutical patent infringement for some French laboratories, the preliminary proceedings and the judicial action undertaken gave rise to compensation of 8 million Dollars.
Antonio was a Professor at the Universidad Pontificia Comillas and author of many publications, including three books titled “Plagiarism and other intellectual property studies”, “Intellectual Property and also Poetry” and “Patents in the digital ecosystem and other studies”. on industrial property”.
Although he always held leadership positions in national and international law rankings, Antonio only felt proud of the team of lawyers who joined the Legal Department of ELZABURU SLP (currently 25) and to whom he always tried to transmit an example of vocation. of customer service, loyalty to adversaries, procedural good faith and intellectual and personal humility. As he wrote: “In industrial and intellectual property there is always more what you have to learn than what you can teach.”
