Tag: innovation

Brazil and Denmark sign three agreements to stimulate innovation

Promote partnerships between Brazilians and Danes for innovation activities, including the generation and commercialization of Industrial Property assets, such as patents. This is the main objective of the three agreements signed on Monday, October 7, in Copenhagen (Denmark), by the president of the Brazilian Patent Office (BPTO), Claudio Furtado, with the director-general of the Danish Patent Office (DKPTO), Sune Stampe Sorensen, and with Danish Ambassador to Brazil, Nicolai Prytz.

According to the special secretary of Productivity, Employment and Competitiveness (SEPEC) of the Ministry of Economy, Carlos Da Costa, through the partnership with Denmark, Brazil gives a decisive impulse to expand innovation and, therefore, the competitiveness of Brazilian companies.

BPTO president, Cláudio Furtado, stressed the importance of the agreements to improve the innovation system in Brazil, as well as their positive effects on the economy. “We started a new model to improve the business environment in the country, in addition to promoting the creation and commercialization of Brazilian Intellectual Property in the world market,” he said.

The ceremony was also attended by the Brazilian ambassador in Denmark, Carlos Antonio da Rocha Paranhos. According to him, Brazil can be proud to have Denmark, one of the world leaders in innovation and intellectual property, as the first partner in a broad patent cooperation project.

New partnerships

The first agreement will encourage cooperation between companies from both countries in research, development, and innovation (RD&I). The mapping of potential participants is already being done in many regions of Brazil. One result of this work will be the creation of new patents and other Industrial Property assets in common, that is, involving two or more partners.

The second agreement will speed up the analysis of Brazilian patents in Denmark and vice versa so that these assets can be used effectively in both markets. This will be done through a new Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) type agreement, broader than the current one. In this PPH model, the result of patent examination done in one country can be leveraged in the other to speed up the process.

Finally, the third agreement involves the next stage of an Industrial Property asset: commercialization. It refers to the IP Marketplace, an online offering and trading platform for these assets, which was developed in Denmark and now has Brazilian adhesion. There are 6,000 registered trademark, patent and industrial design owners from 157 countries.

 

News from: BPTO

The University of Brasilia creates biofertilizer that increases productivity

The Chemistry Institute of the University of Brasilia (UnB), in partnership with Embrapa, has developed a nanotechnology capable of increasing plant productivity, increasing the nutritional value of food, reducing the use of pesticides and making crops less vulnerable to drought and plagues.

Krill A32, a luminescent carbon-based biofertilizer, is under patent application at the Brazilian Patent Office (BPTO).

The name Krill refers to small crustaceans (1 to 2 cm) that serve as food for various marine species, including whales, and are critical for maintaining ecosystems in the oceans. Nanotechnology handles atoms and molecules sized at 1 and 1000 nanometers, verifiable only in special equipment.

As it enables fast plant growth, nano-compost can be used to recover degraded areas, forest management for wood and pulp production, and intensification of agricultural activity – without the need to increase planted areas and shrink forests.

Nano-compound, which is non-toxic, can be applied to plant roots and leaves. The most advanced tests are with foliage. The application with lettuce, cotton, garlic, rice, cocoa, corn, soybean, and tomato was studied. As the substance is luminescent, its absorption in foods can be traced.

News from: Agência Brasil

The magazine “Valor Inovação” includes patents in its annual ranking

The magazine Valor Inovação Brasil included in its fourth edition a new criterion in its evaluation methodology: The inclusion of patents published by the Brazilian PTO in the year of 2017. Such inclusion extended the analysis capacity, making some companies stand out in the ranking, according to specialists.

This is the case, among others, of CNH Industrial – which advanced from 54th to 13th position; Vale, from the 42nd to the 17th position; Microsoft, from the 79th to the 18th; and Petrobras, which moved from 11th place last year to 3rd place. The methodology is specific to the Brazilian market and allows to separate truly innovative companies from those that are following technological trends.

Of the 216 companies registered, 82% have revenues above R$ 1 billion (approximately US$ 270 million). The sample was divided into 21 sectors – three more than in 2017. From the area of Oil and Gas the companies of Mining, Metallurgy and Steel Industry left, forming a new group. The Banking segment, separated from financial services, also gained its own section, as well as Transport and Logistics. Another change was the sector Industries, Chemical and Petrochemical, is now called Chemistry, Petrochemical, Packaging, Paper and Cellulose.

The original publication (in Portuguese) can be found here

Brazilian Supreme Court will judge ‘pipeline’ patents

An action that questions the constitutionality of the legal provisions dealing with pipeline patents should be tried in September. Also called import or revalidation patents, they were granted to patented products abroad, but these patents were already in the public domain.
The justification of the Brazilian General Attorney of the Republic (PGR) is that these legal provisions allowed patents granted abroad to be automatically applied in Brazil without substantial verification of the qualities and innovations of the product, with a maximum duration of 20 years. More than 1,100 patent applications were granted automatically in 1997. But, today, they have fallen into the public domain.
One of the arguments about unconstitutionality is precisely in its legal nature, since it seeks to make patentable, to the detriment of the principle of novelty, that which is already in the public domain, promoting the legislator, thus, a kind of expropriation of a common good of the people without any constitutional protection.
According to such experts, pipeline patents favored foreign multinationals that privatized – without paying anything to the treasury – technology that was already in the public domain.
Tha judgement would be important to show that the Brazilian Supreme Court understands that it is not possible to enact a law and give patents to technologies that were already old, and already known, in this way, it would be possible to recognize the nullity of patents and the consequent return of money that was sent abroad.
Others claim that these patents are constitutional since all necessary requirements for them to be valid were fulfilled. The revalidation regime abroad is not an exclusivity of Brazil. Any decision to the contrary would generate much legal uncertainty, according to other experts.
The official publication about this case can be found here

Software Registration takes only 7 days for grant using the BPTO’s online application system

Since September 12, 2017, when the new online system for computer program registration has been launched, users rely on a more advanced, secure and fully computerized service. In order to reduce the exchange rate, the average registration reduced from 1,200 days for up to 7 business days. The use of the digital signature also offers greater legal insurance for the user.
The e-RPC system came to reduce the bureaucracy of public services promoted by the Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade, and Services (MDIC). In Brazil, the computer program registration is carried out by the BPTO and copyrighted in 176 countries that are part of the Berne Convention, which is valid for 50 years.
With the evolution of IT and the substantial increase of investments in the area, there is an increased demand for software protection, given the competition and the unauthorized structure of the intangible asset.
According to the 2017 Brazilian Software and Services market study, launched by the Brazilian Association of Software Companies (ABES) in partnership with IDC (International Data Corporation), points out investments of US $ 38 billion in IT hardware, software and services in Brazil during the year 2017, which makes the country today occupy the 9th place in the world ranking. The survey also indicates a growth of 4.5% in investments compared to 2016, with a highlight of 4.1% in 2018.
*Translated and adapted from the BPTO’s official page. The original publication (in Portuguese) can be found here