CHILE Law and Practice Contributed by: Carolina Cabrera, LawTech
creation, although the underlying data itself may require separate contractual treatment. Trade marks, logos, product names, domain names and branding are relevant in SaaS, platforms, market - places, telecoms, e-commerce, fintech and consum - er-facing services. Patents and technical inventions are less common in ordinary software services, but relevant in hardware, telecoms, cybersecurity, AI, IoT, healthtech, industrial technology and R&D. Trade secrets, know-how and confidential informa - tion are heavily negotiated. Open-source and third- party components are also central, particularly around copyleft risk and commercial-use restrictions. AI pro - jects increasingly address prompts, outputs, embed - dings, fine-tuned models, datasets, synthetic data, feedback, logs and model improvements. 6.3 Use of Generic Know-How In Chilean technology contracts, parties usually allow ongoing use of generic know-how, while separating it from customer-specific confidential information, pro - prietary deliverables, personal data, trade secrets and project-specific IP. Suppliers typically seek clauses confirming that they may continue to use general skills, experience, methodologies, ideas, processes, techniques, tools, templates, accelerators, frameworks, reusable code, libraries and know-how, provided they do not disclose or misuse the customer’s confidential information or infringe customer IP. Customers usually accept this principle but impose boundaries. They normally prohibit reuse of custom - er data, business rules, internal processes, security information, system architecture, pricing, regulated information, trade secrets, custom code, bespoke documentation or materials created specifically for the customer, except as expressly permitted. Contracts therefore distinguish general professional knowledge from protected materials. General knowl - edge may remain available to the supplier, especially where retained in unaided memory and not based on copying documents, code, datasets or confidential materials. Protected materials remain subject to con -
fidentiality, IP, data protection, return/deletion and use restrictions. In AI and data projects, drafting is becoming more detailed. Suppliers may seek to reuse general learn - ings, methods, model improvements and non-cus - tomer-specific analytics techniques, while customers restrict use of their data, prompts, outputs, embed - dings, fine-tuning datasets and confidential business context. 6.4 Patent Claims Patent claims in Chile remain relatively specialised and less prevalent than other technology-related dis - putes, such as software licensing, copyright, trade secrets, data protection, confidentiality, cybersecurity, consumer protection and contractual disputes. Patent matters are present but tend to be concentrat - ed in sectors where patent protection is commercial - ly central, such as pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, chemistry, mining, engineering, industrial technology, hardware, telecoms, clean technologies and university or R&D-driven innovation. In ordinary IT, SaaS, cloud, outsourcing and software implementation contracts, patent claims are not usu - ally the main source of disputes. Patent risk is more commonly addressed through IP ownership clauses, warranties, indemnities, third-party component con - trols, open-source clauses and responsibility for cus - tomer specifications or supplier technology. That said, patent activity is becoming more visible. INAPI has reported increased national patent filings and improvements in patent processing times, sug - gesting stronger local patent awareness, particularly among inventors, universities, research centres and innovation-driven businesses. Overall, patent claims appear relatively stable and specialised, while patent filings and patent aware - ness have increased. For technology contracts, this makes patent risk more relevant in due diligence and drafting, especially in R&D, AI, telecoms, healthtech, green technology, industrial technology and university spin-off projects.
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