Tag: intellectual property

A project that exempts hotels from the payment of copyright is on the agenda of the CCT

The project that exempts hotels, motels and inns from the payment of copyright for playing music in the rooms is on the agenda of the Commission on Science, Technology, Innovation, Communication and Information Technology (CCT), on Wednesday (3). Senator Davi Alcolumbre (DEM-AP) is the author of the proposal (PLS 60/2016).

The article has a favorable vote by the rapporteur, Senator Flávio Arns (Rede-PR), who presented a substitute to add to the text of the Copyright Law (Law 9.610, of 1998) the classification of lodging facilities included in the General Tourism Law (LGT – Law No. 11,771, of 2008).

The LGT determines that there are two types of ambiances in the hosting area: the individual frequency spaces (those for the exclusive use of the guest) and those of public frequency (those of general use, including guests and non-guests). For this reason, it is necessary to include one more hypothesis among cases where the reproduction of musical works, music-videos, phonograms and audiovisual works does not represent an offense against copyright.

Artists

In early June, David received a visit from the president’s residence. They defended the maintenance of the collection fee of the Central Office of Collection and Distribution (Ecad), contrary to what is also provided by another project with the same content, PL 1.829 / 2019, reported in the Commission on Constitution and Justice (CCJ) by Senator Randolfe Rodrigues (Rede-AP), which has already requested the joint processing of the material.

At the opportunity, David asked Randolfe to open a dialogue between hotel businessmen and the art class to enable the vote on the matter.

Other items

On the agenda of the CCT, with 12 items, are still other projects and the deliberation on granting authorization to run community radio service in municipalities of Minas Gerais, Goiás, Ceará, and Sergipe.

The deliberative meeting begins shortly after the extraordinary meeting to consider the amendments to the proposed Budgetary Guidelines Law (PLN 5/2019), scheduled for 10:00 am, in room 19 of Senator Alexandre Costa.

 

News from: Agência Senado

Agreement with the EU must rename products in Mercosur due to the protection of Geographical Indications

The agreement between the European Union (EU) and Mercosur may prohibit the nomenclature of some products in the bloc of which Brazil is part due to the chapter dealing with Intellectual Property Rights. Cognac, such as Dreher, different proseccos and Budweiser beer must have to gain new names because of Geographical Indications (GI), used in commodities that have a specific origin and possess qualities or reputations that are due to that location, and a of the main obstacles in the negotiations that have dragged on for 20 years.

According to a document released on Monday in Brussels, the European bloc will have 355 regional food and beverage products protected by this distinction, while the South American side will have 220 recognized delicacies. This means that nomenclature for non-genuine products of such a GI shall be prohibited and expressions such as “type”, “made in”, “style”, “imitation” or similar shall not be permitted. The agreement protects the misleading use of symbols, banners or images, suggesting a “false” geographical origin.

The term “cognac” is used only for the beverage produced in the Cognac region of western France. All other similar beverages are sold as “brandy”. In Brazil, the term is used interchangeably, but it has to be renamed: protection has been reinforced by the possibility of defending rights through administrative enforcement, including measures taken by customs officials at the border. The applicable sanctions range from court injunctions that prevent unauthorized use for the payment of damages and fines or, in serious cases, imprisonment.

In some cases, transitional periods have been granted to local producers to cease the use of the name within a certain period, which has not been revealed by either party. There are a very limited number of exceptions, under the so-called “grandfathering principle”, which were granted to pre-identified producers who had already sold products with these names on the market for some years. These companies may continue to use the name subject to approval.

Budweiser

In 2010, the European Court of Justice rejected AB InBev’s application to have the region-wide trademark and exclusive use of the Budweiser name for beers and other beverages because Budvar of the Czech Republic owns the trademark rights in the Austria and Germany. Both beers have been around for over 100 years. Budvar maintains that it holds the right because its beer comes from the Czech city Ceské Budejovice, or Budweis, in German. The strategy seems even more sagacious because restrictions are also placed on the marketing of these items with third countries, which may include Brazil.

Protected Products

Currently, the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BPTO) – linked to the Ministry of Economy – recognizes nine denominations of foreign origin, seven of them European. Among the items highlighted by the EU after the signing of the agreement, the new products include Tyrolean ham (Austria), Herve cheese (Belgium), Munich beer (Germany), Comté cheese (France), parma ham (Italy), Polish vodka, São Jorge cheese (Portugal), tokaji wine (Hungary) and jabugo ham (Spain).

On the Mercosur side, some of the products include wines from Mendoza (Argentina), and cachaças from Paraty (RJ), Salinas (MG) and Abaíra (BA). The list of cheeses does not come close enough to the dozens of protected dairy products of Europeans but includes the Canastra and Serro (MG) cheeses, as well as the Witmarsum Colony (PR). Based on the “open lists” principle, the agreement will allow new names, from both parties, to be added after the entry into force.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, GI’s “identify a product as originating in a country, city, region or locality of its territory, where a particular quality, reputation or another characteristic of the product is essentially attributed to its geographical origin”. They arose as producers, traders, and consumers began to identify that certain products from certain places had particular qualities attributable to their origin. Distinguishing products and services through geographical indications promotes the promotion of the region, adding value and communication to the market regarding attributes of quality, typicality, tradition and cultural heritage.

News from: Correio do Povo

INPI is a partner in a meeting promoted by the Ministry of Agriculture

The Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply is organizing the Workshop on the Recognition of Brazilian Geographical Indications (IG) in the European Union on 24 and 25 June in Brasilia.

The meeting will be attended by consultant Liliana Locatelli, who will address the Geographical Indications system in Brazil, and the Portuguese consultant Ana Soeiro, who will present the procedures for GIs protection of third-country in the European Union.

The program also includes lectures on the structure, control and traceability procedures of GI of the São Matheus (erva mate) and Cerrado Mineiro Region (coffee), as well as a panel where the promotion of Brazilian products abroad will be discussed.

According to the Secretariat of Innovation, Rural Development, and Map Irrigation, it is essential that the Brazilian GIs have a strategy to reach the international market, so the event is aimed at producers and technicians linked to potential and registered Geographical Indications.

The workshop is foreseen in the Map project within the framework of the European Union-Brazil Sectorial Dialogues, with the partnership of the Brazilian Service of Support to Micro and Small Enterprises (Sebrae), the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI), the Ministry of Economy(ME) and the European Union Delegation in Brazil (Delbra).

Registration is limited and can be made until the 19th (Wednesday).

IG
Geographical Indications (GIs) are important instruments of differentiation and valorization of products and their regions, enabling the aggregation of value and reach to quality markets, in a globalized world characterized by competition in agrifood chains.

The GIs characterize products differentiated by their typicality, quality, tradition, and culture in production. It is an intellectual property asset recognized and valued internationally, mainly in the European Union. Countries like France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal have several products registered as a geographical indication and their consumers recognize and value these products, as well as being their main products exported.

For more informations:
General Coordination of Social Communication
Inez De Podestà
press@agricultura.gov.br

News from: MAPA GOV

Brazil discusses marijuana cultivation release for medical and research purposes

The National Health Regulatory Agency (Anvisa) discussed on Tuesday, June 11, 2019, the legalization of marijuana cultivation and production in the country for medical and scientific purposes. Currently, cannabis planting, the plant’s scientific name, is banned in Brazil. However, but some groups and associations have obtained judicial decisions for the cultivation of marijuana in Brazil.

The board of Anvisa discusses the possibility of bringing to the public consultation two proposals under analysis since 2017. The first that creates rules the cannabis planting in Brazil for research and production of medicines. A second on the criteria for registration, monitoring, and marketing of these products.

Currently, in the country, the agency already authorizes applications for the importation of oils and drugs mainly based on cannabidiol, the most common marijuana substratum in drug production. Currently, only the production of a drug is allowed in the country.

The use of marijuana derivatives is more common in degenerative diseases like Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis up to some levels of autism and cancers.

If both opinions of the technical consultancy of Anvisa are approved, the proposals will be taken to the public consultation. After this stage, the technicians finalize a final project that will have to be voted by the Agency’s board again. There is no estimate yet when the technical standard could take effect.

Prohibition inhibits research and new herbal medicines

According to the president of Knox Medical, Mario Grieco “The lack of regulation and the prohibition of local cultivation of cannabis inhibit the research and the development of innovative medicines based on the herb in Brazil”. In addition to the economic benefits, local production could enable more than two million patients to use the herb in the treatment of various diseases. “We have a repressed market of potential users, but it will expand as studies into new indications for medical cannabis are completed,” he says.

According to the president of ABPI, Luiz Edgard Montaury Pimenta, bureaucratic issues in Brazil have hampered the pace of innovation by companies in the national market. “The recovery of the country’s economy is strongly linked to investments in innovation,” says Pimenta.

Data from a recent economic study on cannabis produced by Green Hub in partnership with New Frontier Data will be analyzed by Mario Grieco during the 39th International

Congress on Intellectual Property of the Brazilian Association of Intellectual Property (ABPI) from August 25 to 27, in Rio de Janeiro. According to him, there are over six thousand studies in progress in the laboratories, which exceed US $ 1 billion per year, on the use of cannabis.

The event, the largest of its kind in Latin America, is expected to receive around 1,000 participants, including experts, magistrates, consultants, lawyers, government officials and heads of international entities – such as the CTA – China’s intellectual property AIPPI – International Association of Intellectual Property -, as well as private research centers.

 

News from: Estadão and DCI

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

General bill for protection of personal data is approved in the Brazilian Senate

The Brazilian Senate approved on July 10, 2018, Bill No. 53, which rules the protection of personal data and defines the circumstances in which these data can be collected and treated by both companies and the Public Authorities.

With this measure, Brazil joins several countries in the world, which already have legislation on the subject. The text disciplines the way information is collected and handled, especially in digital media such as personal registration data or even texts and photos published on social networks.

The PLC 53 considers personal data the information related to a person who is “identified” or “identifiable”. That is, the bill also regulates the cases where the data alone, does not reveal to whom it would be related to (an address, for example) but that, processed along with other data, could indicate who the person is (address combined with age, for example).

A special category, called “sensitive” data, has been created, covering race records, political opinions, beliefs, health status and genetic characteristics. The use of this data is more restricted since it carries risks of discrimination and other damages to the person. There are also differentiated parameters for processing information from children, such as requiring parental consent and prohibiting the provision of records to participation in applications (such as social networks and electronic games).

The bill covers treatment operations carried out in Brazil or from data collection done in the country. The standard also applies to companies or entities that offer goods and services or treat information of people who live in Brazil. International data transfer (as in the example above) is also permitted when the country of destination has a level of protection compatible with the Brazilian law or when the company responsible for the treatment proves that they guarantee the same conditions required by the instruments such as contracts or corporate standards.

Treatment for personal, journalistic and artistic purposes was not included in the obligations. Information processing is also not covered in national security, public safety, and law enforcement activities. The text indicates that these topics should be dealt with a specific law. The Public Power also gained the possibility of processing data without the consent of the people, in certain situations, as in the execution of public policies. For this, the website must inform in which hypothesis the processing of data is realized, its purpose and what are the adopted procedures.

You can find the official publication (in Portuguese) 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

BPTO and DKPTO signed an agreement to establish a Pilot Prosecution Highway (PPH)

Representatives of the BPTO and the Danish Patent and Trademark Office (DKPTO) signed a cooperation agreement on Thursday (12) to establish a Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot project.

Through PPH, Brazilians will be able to use the result of the examination of the patent application by the BPTO to accelerate the analysis in Denmark and vice versa. In this pilot phase, up to 100 patent applications per year in each country will be accepted by the PPH. The agreement will be valid for two years, covering the enrollment of 200 applications in the program in each office.

In the PPH pilot, the BPTO will only accept applications for patents related to mechanical engineering, lighting, heating, weapons and explosion, excluding any applications in the pharmaceutical segment. The DKPTO will accept patent applications from any technological field.

In addition, the BPTO will limit the participation of one applicant for application per month, except in the last month of the project.

Brazil is the first South American country with which the DKPTO signs this kind of cooperation agreement.

*Translated and adapted from the BPTO’s webpage. The original publication (In Portuguese) can be found here

The Brazilian Agency for Industrial Development announces a new BPTO

The Brazilian Federal Government is modernizing the Brazilian Industrial Property System. In collaboration with national and foreign partners, the Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services and the Brazilian Industrial Development Agency (ABDI) have implemented a series of measures to become more agile and efficient in the process of analysis and grant of patents by the Brazilian Patents and Trademarks Office (BPTO). In addition to investments in infrastructure, the government will create a simplified system for patents acceptance. The expectation is to attend about 204 thousand patent applications throughout the year 2018, significantly reducing the backlog of the institution.

In the last three years, the BPTO’s productivity has grown considerably, reaching record levels. In 2017, the institute closed the year with more decisions than applications reducing the backlog of patents (7.6%), trademarks (14.9%) and industrial designs (26%).

This January, the ABDI and the BPTO signed a Cooperation Agreement to reformulate the IT infrastructure and processes to accelerate examination. The agency’s investment was over US$ 10 million.

In addition, the Prosperity Fund of the British Government has also invested in the BPTO, ensuring convergence with international practices. In addition to these Initiatives, a greater number Patent Prosecution Highway (PPHs) – recently signed with the United States, European Union, China, Japan and Prosul (Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, and Uruguay). An agreement is also being negotiated with Denmark.

* translated and adapted from ABDI’s official webpage. You can check the original publication (in Portuguese) here

BPTO and UKIPO signed an agreement to establish a Pilot Prosecution Highway (PPH)

During the 10th meeting of the UK-Brazil Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) held in London, representatives of the Brazilian PTO and the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) have signed an agreement that may accelerate the analysis of patent applications. The agreement includes a pilot project of bilateral Patent Prosecution Highways (PPH). The programme, which will commence in the third quarter of 2018, builds on work initiated under the UK-Brazil Memorandum of Understanding on IP. It will support UK and Brazilian businesses via prioritized examination of patents already granted by one of the offices.

On average, the deadline is reduced from about 10 years (complete procedure) to nine months (time until the examination after entering the PPH). According to the Minister of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services, “patents granted with agility are essential to stimulate innovation and competitiveness of companies, including those who intend to invest in the foreign market. They also contribute to attracting investments to Brazil. “

The BPTO estimates that up to 100 patent applications per year may be included in the project. The technological fields will still be defined by the two institutes. Currently, Brazil has PPH projects with the United States, Japan, China, the European Patent Office and the Latin American countries (Prosur).

*Translated and adapted from the BPTO’s official webpage. You can check the official publication here