Somera, Bienvenido I. Jr.

Managing Partner and Chief Operating Officer
bi.somera@cvclaw.com

Practice Areas

• Intellectual Property

Professional Background

Mr. Somera graduated from the College of Law of the University of the Philippines in 1985 and also holds a degree in B.S. Business Economics, which he obtained in 1981, from the same University. He joined the Carpio Villaraza & Cruz Law Offices (now CVCLAW) in 1988 and is currently a Senior Partner and its Managing Partner and Chief Operating Officer. His areas of expertise are intellectual property law and litigation.

Mr. Somera was an accredited Mediator for appellate cases having completed his training at the Philippine Judicial Academy of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He has held several positions in his chapters of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), from 1993 to the present. He has held the positions of Treasurer and First Vice-President of the Philippine Bar Association (PBA). He was Director of the National Committee on Legal Aid of the IBP from 2003-2005. He was also a former Director of the Intellectual Property Foundation and an officer of the Licensing Executives Society-Philippines (LES). He was President and Chairman of the Intellectual Property Association of the Philippines (IPAP) from 2003-2007.

Mr. Somera has written several published articles and has served as resource speaker on intellectual property law in the Philippines and international fora. He was also a member of the Editorial Board of the World Patent and Trademark News, an international journal on intellectual property news and articles.

Mr. Somera is an active member of various international intellectual property law associations, foremost of which are the Asian Patent Attorneys Association (APAA) where he serves as a Vice-President and Council Member, and the Asean Intellectual Property Association (AIPA) where he serves as Councilor. He is the representative of his Firm in the International Trademark Association (INTA) and the Association for the Protection of Industrial Property (AIPPI).

Articles and Presentations

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