Last month, the World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”), together with institutional partners, released its 14th Global Innovation Index (“GII”) report.
In this post, we briefly look at Brazil’s position in the index and some of the ongoing initiatives that the Brazilian government is taking to foster growth, innovation and technology.
In recent times Brazil has been investing in new initiatives to become more modern and competitive. The steps taken include ratifying important international treaties, defining new strategies, regulations and legislation, conducting public consultation processes, and implementing critical changes to its institutions, the courts and law enforcement.
In our earlier posts we have discussed how Brazil has been adapting its laws to deal with topics such as: data protection, the fight against cyber-crimes and counterfeiting and the issues of the use of intellectual property on the Internet.
14th Global Innovation Index (“GII”) report
The GII report looks at recent global innovation trends and provides a rank to different countries on their performance for a particular year, while also highlighting specific strengths and weaknesses. The report, which uses diverse metrics, is useful as it monitors recent developments of the chosen countries within a regional context.
In general, the report shows that on a global level, investments in innovation have increased during the Covid-19 pandemic, along with scientific output, expenditures in R&D, venture capital deals and IP filings (although the data for IP filings still shows inconsistent results depending on the country and region).
Significantly, this year, Brazil is mentioned among 19 countries termed as “overperformers”, which means it is performing above expectations in terms of developments on innovation and technology. Now in 57th place, the country has made considerable progress in the table this year, moving up 5 places (the biggest advance since 2012).
The National Intellectual Property Strategy is showing results
Over the last years, the Brazilian government has begun to focus its attention on creating a culture of innovation, and the growth of Intellectual Property and technology in the country.
The new government initiatives also include the new Intellectual Property National Strategy (ENPI) program (“Estratégia Nacional de Propriedade Intelectual – ENPI”), with the goal of creating a balanced and effective National IP system, to promote creativity, investments in innovation and access to knowledge in Brazil.
The new strategy was rolled out in 2020 through a collaboration of various government agencies and market players and included an extended public consultation process (our firm’s research institution, Daniel Inova, actively took part in this process). The result was a 20-year plan of action, with a biennial review for the implementation of priorities, goals and results.
The strategy sets out the following 7 axes, which are formed by macro-objectives and actions that focus on the problems and challenges found in the market research:
- IP for competitiveness and development;
- Dissemination Training in IP;
- Strengthening of governance and institutions;
- Modernization of legal and infra-legal frameworks;
- Compliance and legal certainty;
- Intelligence and vision of the future;
- Insertion of Brazil in the global IP system.
The first action plan was launched in mid 2021, when a new portal was also created for those who wish to follow the progress of actions related to the ENPI.
Encouragingly, we can already see that more than 70% of the initiatives foreseen by the action plan are already underway. The success of these actions depends on the entire Brazilian public machine, with the support of many entities representing civil society that also take part in the activities of the Inter-ministerial Group on Intellectual Property (GIPI).
Currently, the portal already has several updates, commenting on government policies and actions taken that fostered intellectual property in the country (e.g., in relation to combatting online piracy and dealing with copyright matters).
A look at innovation and technology initiatives in Brazil’s PTO
In terms of the above-mentioned advances on innovation, the work of the Brazilian PTO has been instrumental. The agency coordinated several actions, including expanding and integrating programs and information with foreign offices and the Brazilian Trade and Investment promotion Agency (Apex); fighting the backlog and augmenting operational efficiency, and increasing awareness, dissemination and encouragement of IP to the most varied audiences and interests.
In 2021, in addition to continuing the fight against the patent backlog, which has already analyzed more than 100,000 applications, we can see that the country reached a historic record in the number of Brazilian patent applications.
Further, due to the recent ratification of the Madrid Protocol, which finally became operational in Brazil on October 2, 2019, the agency reduced the period for registering trademarks from 14 to 9 months (with opposition) and 12 to 6 months (without opposition), according to the numbers reported at the end of 2019.
In addition, we can see improvements in the Brazilian PTO concerning diverse matters such as the protection of distinctive signs, the creation of new rules on the protection of trademarks and geographical indications, giving just some examples.
It is also notable that the agency is undergoing a significant digital transformation of its services, making it more aligned with international standards and technological developments.
Conclusion
While these results are positive, it is also clear that there is a long road ahead. In his contribution to the GII, the President of the Brazilian National Confederation of Industry, Robson Braga de Andrade, notes that:
“… For Brazil to become a truly innovative economy, we need to be among the top 30 economies in the Global Innovation Index (GII) and the government’s policy, launched in 2020, pledges to make concerted efforts toward achieving this goal.”
So, while Brazil is moving in the right direction in terms of innovation, it is important to note that the country must still improve and address the existing issues of concern for innovation in the country.
This will involve, for example, staying firm on the path to decrease the backlog in the Brazilian PTO, putting aside the required resources for tough enforcement of IP rights and working to ratify further international treaties that will help to foster innovation in the country.
This is not an easy task, but the evidence shows that Brazil is moving in the right direction.
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