INTA News

INTA Contributes to Brazil’s New Intellectual Property Strategy

Published: March 3, 2021

Nathalia

Nathalia Mazzonetto Muller, Mazzonetto São Paulo, Brazil Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee; Global Advisory Council

INTA’s Global Advisory Council—Latin America (GAC) took part in the public consultations conducted during 2020 by the Brazilian Ministry of Economy on a new National Strategy for Intellectual Property (ENPI). The GAC subsequently submitted its proposals on the Strategy.

The new Strategy was issued on December 11, 2020, and will span the next 10 years. It was designed to draw attention to the construction of a national intellectual property (IP) system that encourages creativity and investment in innovation to improve competitiveness and socioeconomic development in Brazil.

The government publicly presented the ENPI after a year of work led by a group of experts and IP professionals and users of the IP system. Approximately 220 IP specialists, and private and public entities, were engaged; about 98 contributions were received during the public consultation.

INTA was especially invited to join the group. Public hearings were held in March 2020, and the public consultation was held starting in July 2020, with INTA submitting its comments at the end of August 2020.

The Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry, and Foreign Trade launched the Strategy during an event celebrating 50 years of the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (PTO).

  1. The strategic plan contains seven main guidelines, as follows:
  2. IP for competitiveness and development;
  3. Dissemination, training, and capacity building in IP;
  4. Governance and institutional strengthening;
  5. Modernization of legal frameworks;
  6. Legal enforcement and security;
  7. Intelligence and future approach; and
  8. Brazil’s integration into the global IP system.

The GAC provided contributions and suggestions on all the fronts and many of them were incorporated into guidelines for the national Strategy.

Overall, more than 210 actions were proposed to improve the Brazilian IP system, covering both office procedures related to the Brazilian PTO and improvements at the court system and jurisdictions dedicated to IP disputes.

GIPI (Grupo Interministerial de Propriedade Intelectual), a public entity connected to the Brazilian Ministry of Economy, will be in charge of the implementation and governance of the ENPI. The new Strategy will be made official through presidential decree.

GIPI is chaired by the Special Secretary of the Ministry of Economy, Carlos Da Costa, and comprises 10 members: The President’s Office; the Civil House; the Ministry of Economy; the Ministry of Justice and Public Security; the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation; the Ministry of Agriculture; the Ministry of Tourism; the Ministry of Health; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and the Ministry of Environment.

According to GIPI, the ENPI’s main purpose is to ensure Brazil’s place as a leader and competitive country in IP protection in order to attract foreign and local investments and promote innovation to serve its large market and population.

INTA plans to monitor the National IP Strategy and its portal, and will continue to provide assistance and expert advice to local government agencies.

Access further information about the new IP Strategy.

Although every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of this article, readers are urged to check independently on matters of specific concern or interest. 

© 2021 International Trademark Association