Category Archives: Analysis

Energy self-consumption, the new investment model in Honduras?

Interesting changes are taking place in the Honduran market, thanks to technological advances in the electric power sector, where consumers and commercial/industrial companies can install self-consumption electrical energy systems in order to reduce usage, protect the environment and especially to reduce the amount of the electric bill. This practice is being implemented by entry into force…

Instagram: New battlefront for brands.

Social media represent new challenges for those of us who work in the field of Intellectual Property. The unauthorized use of trademarks and their counterfeiting occur today in an environment that requires a different approach. Social media, and particularly Instagram is the new “go to location” for the promotion and development of brands, through full interaction with consumers…

When does a shareholder have the right to collect his dividend?

Generally, a person invests in a corporation to obtain, eventually, economic advantages. The right to the dividend is acquired inherently, by virtue of being a shareholder, in a commercial company. The doctrine has classified it as a patrimonial right (with economic content) that the shareholder has against the corporate entity, unlike political rights (for example,…

A Decade After Opening the Insurance Market to Competition

It is necessary to go back to September 1999, during the Rodríguez Echeverría administration and as part of the “National Concertation Forum”. The convenience and necessity of de-monopolizing the insurance market in order to open it up to private competition were discussed. For  promoters, the opening of the insurance market in Costa Rica would improve…

The non-compete clause in business contracts requires caution

“Clauses agreed upon without due care may bring penalties to companies” The non-compete clause is a contractual obligation widely used in the business universe and can be perfectly valid and applied to different types of contracts, whether they are governed by labor law, commercial law and even antitrust law. However, a non-compete provision must meet…

Why a background search is not enough?

When a company wants to market its brand, it must take into account several prior considerations to determine whether the use of the brand infringes rights of third parties, or, if its use goes against the requirements contained in trademark legislation. Erroneously, these considerations are often not addressed until after the company has already invested…

The New Criminal Code in Honduras: An Advance or a Setback?

There has been much speculation—none of it idle–about the publication of Friday, May 10, 2019 in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Honduras (La Gaceta) because that day Hondurans realized that Decree 130-2017 containing the new Penal Code, the substantive regulation that regulates crimes and penalties in our country, was published. With six months…

Dismissal for Messages on Facebook: No Violation of the Privacy and Privacy of Communications

In a recent resolution of the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (2018-000776) a case was resolved on the permissibility of dismissal without employer responsibility, where the legality of the evidence on which said dismissal was based was questioned. This case has as background a conversation that the worker published, along with another…

Application of technology in Labor Relations

From a legal perspective, it is considered that the laws are constantly changing, which requires that the Companies frequently update their knowledge and internal regulations. Nevertheless, the evolution of technology is faster than the evolution of the laws that regulate the labor relationships, because they do not go head to head and this is reflected…

FAQ: Work shifts reductions and changes in Social Security in Costa Rica

On Saturday, March 21, 2020, the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica approved the law that allows employers to reduce the hours and wages of workers, as a measure of relief and support in the face of the Coronavirus pandemic. The law is to give an employer the ability to cut wages and hours by 50%,…