By electronic submission
Director for Intellectual Property and Innovation
Office of the United States Trade Representative
Washington, D.C.
2017 SPECIAL 301 SUBMISSION
National Confederation of Industry – Brazil (CNI),
Brazil Industries Coalition (BIC),
and
ICC Brasil
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................ 3
2.
EFFICIENCY UPGRADES AT THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY (INPI) .. 5
3.
DIALOGUE AND COOPERATION WITH FOREIGN ORGANIZATIONS .............................................. 6
4.
IMPROVED BORDER CONTROL ............................................................................................................ 8
5.
PIRACY AND SPECIALIZED IPR ENFORCEMENT UNITS .................................................................. 9
6.
REDUCTION OF THE BACKLOG .......................................................................................................... 11
7.
EXPEDITED PROSECUTION OF APPLICATIONS .............................................................................. 12
8.
LEGISLATIVE PROGRESS..................................................................................................................... 14
9.
INTERNATIONAL TREATIES NEGOTIATIONS ................................................................................... 15
10. LESS BUREAUCRACY ........................................................................................................................... 15
2
1.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The National Confederation of Industry – Brazil (CNI), the Brazil Industries Coalition
(BIC) and ICC Brasil highly appreciate the opportunity to participate in the Special 301 process.
CNI is the umbrella organization, which represents the manufacturing sector Brazil.
Established in 1938, the Confederation represents the 27 state-level federations of industries,
and over 1,300 sectorial trade associations of which more than 700,000 companies are
affiliated. It is also the home of the Brazil-U.S. Business Council and Chair of the BIC.
BIC is a Washington-based trade association that represents Brazilian companies and
trade associations. BIC members encompasses both the agribusiness and manufacturing
sectors organizations, as well as leading Brazilian multinational companies, most of which are
invested in the United States. BIC’s mission is to work towards a stronger partnership between
Brazil and the United States through wider and deeper economic relations and political ties.
ICC Brasil is the National Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce – ICC,
the world business organization. With over 6.5 million members in over 130 countries through
individuals, companies, law firms, chambers of commerce and business associations, ICC is the
voice of world business championing the global economy as a force for economic growth, job
creation and prosperity. Since 2017, ICC is an United Nations Observer Member. In Brazil, the
ICC Commission on Intellectual Property is a prominent local policy initiative to improve
business environment.
Overview of Developments in Intellectual Property Rights Protection in Brazil
In 2016, significant progress on Intellectual Property measures were observed at the
Legislative and Executive level in Brazil. This amounts to an unique nature of the Brazilian
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection that unmistakably distinguishes Brazil from other
countries inserted in the Watch List. Following this introduction, we will provide a careful
presentation of the positive developments:

Progress in international cooperation: Brazil has established high-level dialogues with
several patent and trademark offices throughout the world on important IPR matters such as
exchange of best practices, expedition in prosecution, internal management insights, training
programs for directors and examiners, among others.

Special patent prosecution programs: in 2016, Brazil has established a pilot program
for patent prosecution with the United States. The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) provides
expedited procedures for industrial designs and applications pertaining to sport products;
permanent priority examination of “Green Patent”’ applications, as well as applications from
small business entities (“Patentes MPE”), and a special ‘branding’ for indicating the priority of
certain applications in other patent offices that are filed with the National Institute of Industrial
Property (INPI) (“Prioridade BR”);

IPR in Brazil’s free trade agreements (FTA) under negotiation: substantial progress
was observed in MERCOSUR-European Union FTA negotiations. Those negotiations include
IPR chapters that improve the IPR environment for traded goods between those regions. Brazil
3
is also working to strengthen IPR chapters in other ongoing trade negotiations, such as BrazilMexico.

Increased transparency and public debate on IPR: INPI and Brazilian legislators held
public hearings to receive inputs for best practices from users and applicants affected by IPR
protection. INPI has also started a monthly report with an overview of the office’s activities.

Measures to reduce INPI backlog: several taskforces and special patent and
trademark prosecution programs were implemented throughout the year of 2016. Data shows
significant improvement on the time for analysis of patent and trademark applications. In
addition, new examiners were hired and new programs (e.g., remote work) are being tested and
implemented.

Efficiency upgrades at INPI: 89% of patent applications and 99% of trademark
applications were submitted electronically in 2016. Along with the international cooperation that
will enable exchange programs with other patent and trademark offices for the training of
directors and examiners, INPI also established new management strategies to improve
efficiency, reduce costs, and improve quality control in prosecution. Additionally, the regulation
of the Treaty Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents highly
simplifies the legalization of foreign documents among signatory countries by reducing the
bureaucracy, which significantly accelerated procedures for the INPI.

Operations to combat piracy: important improvements on the fight against Piracy such
as “Operation Black Beard”, which resulted in the shutdown of unauthorized movie streaming
websites amounting to 768 million hits a year, and stricter boarder control enforcements
resulting in the seizure of counterfeited goods and the dismantlement of criminal organizations.
New counselors were appointed to the National Council Against Piracy and Intellectual Property
Crimes (CNCP), one of the most significant IP law enforcement mechanisms in Brazil. Also,
CNCP has joined Interpol on its “Turn Back Crime” campaign, demonstrating the international
cooperation efforts towards the fight against Piracy.

New Specialized IPR Enforcement Units: Santa Catarina, Minas Gerais, and Brasília
joined the group of States with a special unit dedicated to the combat on Piracy.
As it will be further demonstrated below, all these improvements show that Brazil
provides adequate and effective means to secure, exercise, and enforce IPR, distinguishing
Brazil from other members of the Watch List.
Brazil is widely aware of how IPR are a crucial mechanism in promoting a deeper
economic and political relationship with the United States and has, through expressive
advances in the field, shown it is committed with the protection of Intellectual Property.
4
2.
EFFICIENCY UPGRADES
PROPERTY (INPI)
AT
THE
NATIONAL
INSTITUTE
OF
INDUSTRIAL
Decree No. 8,854/2016 established structural changes to the administration of INPI by,
for example, strengthening executive supervision and coordination. The changes will enhance
operational efficiency by making the administration more dynamic. INPI is continuously
searching for the best practices for its administration and internal management, as can be seen
from the several dialogues with other patent offices.
A monthly report has been released early last year with an overview of the INPI’s
activities. The Report provides preliminary data gathered from applications filed and some
decisions issued on the Intellectual Property Magazine1.The Report also hands over additional
issues addressing other relevant information on the use of the Industrial Property in Brazil. The
goal is to deliver an overview of the services provided by INPI by analyzing the previous
month's statistics.
The American Chamber of Commerce in Brazil (Amcham-Brasil) released its INPI
Report in May, in which it indicates that the overall perception of the services provided by INPI
has improved consistently. More than 50% of the interviewed evaluated the performance of
internal departments as "great” or “good", and overall perception of the services provided by
INPI increased to 24%, which represents an increase in 3 percentage points, while the “bad” or
“awful” perception decreased to 18%.2
In INPI’s first trial of the pilot project for remote work, the results are encouraging: the
designated group met an average of 144% of the goals up to August and officers noticed a 94%
improvement in life quality, while 89% of them do not see the local IT infrastructure as an issue.3
The Director of Internal Administration for INPI participated on a training session held at
the USPTO on intellectual property offices management. In the training session, Telework,
which the USPTO has significant experience with, received special attention as it represented a
success of 75% among its examiners. The experience will help INPI expand its remote work
pilot project.4
1
INPI. Last access on January 15th, 2017. http://www.inpi.gov.br/sobre/estatisticas/boletim-mensal
The 4th and latest INPI Report can be accessed on http://www.amcham.com.br/o-que-fazemos/estudospublicacoes-e-pesquisas/relatorios-inpi/relatorios-inpi.
3
INPI. Last access on January 16th, 2017. http://www.inpi.gov.br/noticias/trabalho-remoto-atinge-146-das-metascontratadas
4
INPI. Last access on January 16th, 2017. http://www.inpi.gov.br/noticias/treinamento-nos-estados-unidos-destacasucesso-do-teletrabalho
2
5
3.
DIALOGUE AND COOPERATION WITH FOREIGN ORGANIZATIONS
INPI keeps an open dialogue with Brazilian associations that work towards improving the
intellectual property scenario in Brazil, such as the Brazilian Association of Intellectual Property
(ABPI), the Brazilian Association of Intellectual Property Agents (ABAPI), and the Brazilian Bar
Association (OAB). INPI constantly engages in dialogues with those organizations to share its
projects and agenda for the Brazilian intellectual property realm.5 These organizations, in turn,
promote the development of debates, awareness, research, and exchange of best practices
through groups of professionals, seminars, publications6, and conferences.7
Cooperation is also sought in the international scenario. Brazil has signed a declaration
with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to expand the technical and
operational cooperation between INPI and WIPO, including the exchange of best practices8.
In addition, INPI took part in the public hearing organized by the Brazilian House of
Representatives regarding Bill No. 3,406/2015, which aims to amend Brazilian IP Act No.
9,279/1996 to establish a maximum prosecution time for patent and trademark applications.
During the hearing, Mr. Luiz Otávio Pimentel, president of INPI, highlighted the importance of
hiring new examiners to reduce the backlog and maintain the quality of the work9.
INPI also promotes dialogue and transparency by holding its own public hearings. A new
software for applications is scheduled to be implemented during the first quarter of 2017 and
INPI wants to receive best practices inputs from the industry and users, as well as guarantee
transparency of the process10.
The new software for applications will provide for a simpler and faster procedure, and
provided there are no issues with the application, the registration will be issued within 7 days,
The new application system will also provide legal certainty through the protection of the original
source code.11
5
INPI. Last access on January 16th, 2017. http://www.inpi.gov.br/noticias/inpi-recebe-abpi-abapi-aspi-e-oab-rj
OAB’s Rio de Janeiro sectional has its own Industrial Property and Piracy Committee (CPIP), dedicated to the
development of awareness and studies in the importance and role of intellectual property in economic and social
development. Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil (OAB). Cartilha de Propriedade Intelectual (“Intellectual Property
Guide”). Last access on January 17th, 2017.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3L25GCPWezyQXo5LWlaeHczTDQ/view
7
Brazilian Association of Intellectual Property (ABPI). Last access on January 17th, 2017.
http://www.abpi.org.br/quemsomos.asp?ativo=True&linguagem=Portugu%EAs&secao=Quem%20somos&subsecao
=Eventos%20da%20ABPI
8
INPI. Last access on January 16th, 2017. http://www.inpi.gov.br/noticias/mdic-assina-declaracoes-conjuntas-coma-ompi-sobre-marcas-e-capacitacao-em-pi-1
9
INPI. Last access on January 16th, 2017. http://www.inpi.gov.br/noticias/inpi-participa-de-audiencia-publica-paradiscutir-projeto-de-lei-que-altera-prazo-de-exame
10
INPI. Last access on January 16th, 2017. http://www.inpi.gov.br/noticias/inpi-vai-fazer-consulta-publica-paraimplantar-o-e-rpc
11
INPI. Last access on January 16th, 2017. http://www.inpi.gov.br/noticias/inpi-abre-consulta-publica-sobresistema-de-registro-de-software
6
6
The U.S.-Brazil Commercial Dialogue had its 14th Edition in 2016. Both countries are
willing to strengthen the bilateral commercial relationship through cooperation on
entrepreneurship and intellectual property. USPTO and INPI collaborated in joint educational
events to raise business and IPR awareness in both countries. The two patent offices also
combined efforts to reduce its patent application backlogs through exchange of best practices,
such as the previously mentioned Telework and other Capacity Building Programs.12
During the visit of Mr. Luiz Otávio Pimentel to USPTO’s headquarters, both parties
highlighted their plans to strengthen Patent Offices coordination in areas such as research and
examiner training programs.
As a result of a cooperation between INPI and the European Union Intellectual Property
Office (EUIPO), the DesignView search tool is now available to Brazilian designs, allowing them
to be available through a search in the international database. 13
12
United States of America, International Trade Administration. Joint Statement of the 14th Edition of the BrazilU.S. Commercial Dialogue. Last access on January 19th, 2017. http://www.trade.gov/press/press-releases/2016/usbrazil-comm-dialogue-statement.pdf
13
INPI. Last access on January 16th, 2017. http://www.inpi.gov.br/noticias/desenhos-industriais-brasileiros-japodem-ser-consultados-em-base-de-dados-internacional
7
4.
IMPROVED BORDER CONTROL
The Brazilian Federal Police has increased focus on enforcement at the tri-border
region. Several operations were carried out in 2016, some of them with international
cooperation. Operations involving foreign governments and also the Interpol targeted counterfeit
goods, including pharmaceuticals and cigarettes14.
In 2016, the Federal Police continued to carry out “Operation Huno” in the State of Rio
Grande do Sul. This operation was established with the sole purpose of fighting frauds in the
cigarette market, which included unauthorized use of trademarks.
In the State of Santa Catarina, the Federal Revenue Service of Brazil (Receita Federal
do Brasil - RFB) and the Federal Police targeted the Paraguay border through “Operation
Smuggler”. The goal is to end criminal organizations that act in the sale of counterfeit goods in a
popular market in the region of “Balneário Camboriú”. Seized goods go from electronics to
cosmetics.15
14
Brazilian Federal Police. Last access on January 19th , 2017:
http://www.pf.gov.br/agencia/noticias/2016/04/policia-federal-realiza-operacao-na-regiao-da-triplice-fronteira
15
Federal Revenue Service of Brazil. Last access on January 18 th, 2017.
http://idg.receita.fazenda.gov.br/sobre/acoes-e-programas/acoes-da-receita-federal/noticias/2016/julho/9a-regiaofiscal/operacao-smuggler-desmantela-grupo-que-revendia-mercadorias-ilegais-no-vale-do-itajai
8
5.
PIRACY AND SPECIALIZED IPR ENFORCEMENT UNITS
New counselors were appointed to the National Council Against Piracy and Intellectual
Property Crimes (CNCP) in the end of 2016. The Council is presided by the Ministry of Justice,
and counts with other 10 representatives of different Ministries and Departments, as well as 7
representatives from civil society, chosen from well recognized organizations and associations,
such as the CNI and the Brand Protection Group, that represent the sectors harmed by Piracy.
An example of its recent measures is the cooperation to Interpol on its “Turn Back Crime”
campaign.
Another successful operation from the Federal Police, Operation “Black Beard” that
aimed to bring down criminal organizations involved in intellectual property rights violation
through the internet, led to the shutdown of a popular online movie-streaming website. This year
alone, another three online movie streaming websites were brought down, and several people
were held accountable and arrested. The three websites had an average of 768 million annual
accesses from several different countries.16 Penalties for IP crimes vary from 2 to 8 years of
imprisonment plus fine.
The State of Santa Catarina established the State Council on Combating Piracy
(CECOP). CECOP has the role of establishing mechanisms to receive complaints and
suggestions on intellectual property crimes. Council members are discussing educational and
repressive actions for 2017, as well as formal proposals for legislative changes. The agenda of
the Council involves fighting Piracy, maintaining a database of the information received,
promote educational campaigns, provide material and information to diffused on media for
public awareness, and suggest enforcement actions in cooperation with other entities.17
The Public Prosecutor's Office of the State of Santa Catarina started to cooperate with
CECOP in 2016 with the purpose of promoting and coordinating effective measures to fight
Piracy by assisting the State’s plan to fight illegal markets, tax evasion and intellectual property
crimes. CECOP acts in cooperation with law enforcement agents and consumer defense
agency officers to fight the sale of counterfeit goods in Florianópolis, the State’s capital.
According to the Secretary of Consumer Defense Safety, and intelligence group has been
assigned to identify suppliers and producers of counterfeited goods.18
Other states also engaged in actions to fight Piracy. The Public Prosecutor's Office of
the State of Minas Gerais has ordered organized searches in popular shopping centers
targeting counterfeited goods, especially sports goods.19
16
Exame. Last access on January 19th. http://exame.abril.com.br/brasil/pf-deflagra-operacao-contra-sites-depirataria/
17
State Council on Combating Piracy (CECOP). Last access on January 19th, 2017.
https://www.mpsc.mp.br/noticias/membros-do-cecop-planejam-acoes-conjuntas-de-combate-a-pirataria-para-2017
18
Sustainable Economic Development Agency. State Council on Combating Piracy (CECOP). Last access on
January 19th, 2017. http://www.sds.sc.gov.br/cecop/index.php/noticias/349-o-trabalho-continua-operacao-conjuntacombate-a-pirataria-de-produtos-no-centro-de-florianopolis
19
G1 Portal de Notícias. Last access on January 19th, 2017. http://g1.globo.com/minasgerais/noticia/2016/06/mandados-de-busca-e-apreensao-sao-cumpridos-em-shopping-de-bh.html
9
In Rio de Janeiro, the work of the border control law enforcement, has resulted in the
seizing of 60 tons of counterfeit goods since the start of the Fiscal Barrier program in 2010. 20
Rio de Janeiro’s Special Unit of Repression to Crimes Against Immaterial Property (Delegacia
de Repressão de Crimes Contra a Propriedade Imaterial – DRCPIM) carries out several
operations to fight Piracy and counterfeiting.
Designated operations were also performed in Brasília by the Special Unit of Combat
Against Immaterial Property Crimes (Delegacia de Combate aos Crimes Contra a Propriedade
Imaterial – DCPIM), in a cooperation with the Federal Revenue Service of Brazil and local police
to fight Piracy and other crimes (Operation Click).21
According to a research organized by Fecomércio SC, consumers in the State of Santa
Catarina are aware that Piracy: harms the producer or the artist (93.7%), promotes tax evasion
(88.3%), reflects on trade revenues (85%), may cause negative consequences to its users
(81.3%), and finances organized crime (78.9%). Consciousness of the negative impact of Piracy
in the job market has increased 9.4% since 2015, and it is now at 56.3%.22
This data suggests that awareness actions must be accompanied by the strengthening
of law enforcement units. As mentioned above, specialized IPR enforcement units have shown
a good result in preventing the sale of goods that result from intellectual property rights
infringement.
20
Rio de Janeiro State Government. http://www.rj.gov.br/web/imprensa/exibeconteudo?article-id=3024845
Federal Revenue Service of Brazil. Last access on January 17 th, 2017.
http://idg.receita.fazenda.gov.br/sobre/acoes-e-programas/acoes-da-receita-federal/noticias/2016/julho/1a-regiaofiscal/receita-federal-e-policia-civil-do-df-deflagram-operacao-click
22
Fecomércio, Santa Catarina (SC). Last access on January 20 th, 2017. http://www.fecomerciosc.com.br/atualidade/noticia.html?id=2254
21
10
6.
REDUCTION OF THE BACKLOG
According to INPI, 2016 ended with 31,020 new patent applications, a number that
reflects a 6.1% decrease in comparison to the previous year. New trademark applications,
however, increased by 4.8% in comparison to 2015.23
The electronic submission of patent application has increased over the year of 2016:
89% of the patent applications were submitted electronically. The service was used by 76% of
the Brazilian applicants and 94% of foreign applicants. In regards to trademark, 99% of the
applications were made electronically, and the online submission was widely used by residents
and non-residents.24
INPI established a taskforce to reduce the backlog of industrial design applications, and
another one to analyze appeals and invalidation requests of trademarks and patents.
Preliminary results presented mid-2016 show that 87.5% of the goal of the later was met, while
66% of the industrial design applications target was achieved.25
Among INPI’s goals for the 2016-2018 time frame is the reduction of trademark backlog
and the ending of industrial design applications backlog. Hiring technical personnel is essential
to accomplishing these objectives. In the end of 2016, INPI was authorized to hire 30
researchers and 40 technical analysts. The new hires will allow the trademark examination time
to be compliant with the 18 months required by the Madrid Protocol.
23
INPI. Last access on January 18th, 2017.
http://www.inpi.gov.br/sobre/estatisticas/arquivos/publicacoes/boletim_jan-2017.pdf
24
INPI. Last access on January 18th, 2017.
http://www.inpi.gov.br/sobre/estatisticas/arquivos/publicacoes/boletim_jan-2017.pdf
25
INPI. Last access on January 19th, 2017. http://www.inpi.gov.br/noticias/forca-tarefa-para-reduzir-backlogrealiza-balanco-de-seis-meses-de-atividades
11
7.
EXPEDITED PROSECUTION OF APPLICATIONS
The INPI established an expedited procedure for industrial design applications related to
sport products, as the Olympic and Paralympic Games held in Rio de Janeiro resulted in an
increased number of industrial design applications. The last day for filing applications under this
special program was December 31st, 2016.
Brazil also gave special attention to “Green patents” in 2016, due to the importance of
such technology for global environmental development. After running the pilot program for 4
years, INPI made the priority examination of Green patent applications a permanent service,
due to the program’s positive results. During these 4 years, the maximum term of patent
examination was of approximately 2 years. 26
“Prioridade BR” is another expedite patent prosecution program launched in 2016, for
patent applications filed with INPI that indicate priority to applications in other patent offices. The
pilot project has already reached its maximum of 100 applicants after approximately a month
after its start date and the next phase is under analysis. The application review under this
program averages 111 days. 27
The industry received very well the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) program
established between Brazil and the United States, as it shows an effort to reduce the backlog
and the time for patent application examination. Intellectual Property Associations are promoting
informational seminars for law firms, company directors, industry associations, etc. to increase
public awareness of the program.28
The average time of patent examination through the PPH is four months, and, until early
December, 2016, 33 applicants applied to use the program.29 In Brazil, the program is restricted
to the oil & gas industry, while in the U.S. there is no industry-specific restriction.
The success of the PPH resulted in a further dialogue with other patent offices aiming for
a similar program with Brazil. As an example, in 2016, Brazil and Japan established a group that
will be dedicated to study the best forms of cooperation between the two countries. The goal is
to come to an agreement with the same framework as the Brazil-U.S. PPH.30
In addition to that, INPI has also been dialoguing with the European Patent Office (EPO)
in order to establish a PPH program between the two offices, which should be implemented in
26
INPI. Last access on January 15th, 2017. http://www.inpi.gov.br/noticias/Patentes%20Verdes
National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI). Last access on January 15th, 2017. http://www.inpi.gov.br/menuservicos/patente/projeto-piloto-prioridade-br
28
INPI. Last access on January 16th, 2017. http://www.inpi.gov.br/noticias/inpi-faz-rodada-de-apresentacoes-doprojeto-piloto-pph
29
INPI. Last access on January 18th, 2017. http://www.inpi.gov.br/menu-servicos/patente/projeto-piloto-pph
30
INPI. Last access on January 18th, 2017. http://www.inpi.gov.br/noticias/brasil-e-japao-criam-grupo-para-acelerarexame-de-patentes
27
12
the second quarter of 2017.31 Europe and Brazil are also discussing training to INPI patent
examiners in specific areas.
Brazil’s and France’s patent offices signed a memorandum of understanding that
encompasses the exchange of best practices in areas such as legislative progress in intellectual
property protection and international treaties, promotion of the intellectual property culture (with
special attention to small enterprises) and fight against Piracy.32
Another example of INPI’s continuous expansion on cooperation with other countries’
patent office is the cooperation agreement signed with the United Kingdom Intellectual Property
Office (UKIPO) in December, 2016. The agreement focuses on the exchange of best practices,
cooperation between the offices, and quality of application analysis, and it also encourages
easement of technology transfers. The role of Academia in raising social awareness on
Intellectual Property matters received special attention, as well as did the internal management
of patent offices.33
INPI has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Spanish Patent and
Trademark Office (OEPM). The document encompasses the tailoring of standardized
technology transfer agreements, and joint actions34.
Another expedited patent prosecution program started by INPI was the “Patentes MPE”.
The Resolution No. 160/2016 formalized the program in February 2016, and the pilot project
prioritizes applications filed by small business entities. The pilot program will run for a full year
or until it reaches 300 applications. There is no additional cost for requesting the expedited
prosecution, but the applicant must consist of a small entity.35
31
INPI. Last access on January 18th, 2017. http://www.inpi.gov.br/noticias/inpi-e-epo-discutem-escopo-do-projetopiloto-do-pph
32
INPI. Last access on January 18th, 2017. http://www.inpi.gov.br/noticias/inpis-do-brasil-e-da-franca-assinamacordo-de-cooperacao
33
INPI. Last access on January 18th, 2017. http://www.inpi.gov.br/noticias/inpi-assina-acordo-de-cooperacao-como-escritorio-de-pi-do-reino-unido
34
INPI. Last access on January 18th, 2017. http://www.inpi.gov.br/noticias/inpi-se-reune-com-escritorios-daespanha-e-el-salvador
35
National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI). Last access on January 15 th, 2017.
http://www.inpi.gov.br/noticias/inpi-oficializa-projeto-que-prioriza-exame-de-patentes-de-micro-e-pequenasempresas
13
8.
LEGISLATIVE PROGRESS
Legislators focused on medicine control in 2016 and an amendment proposed by
Senator Humberto Costa to Act No. 11.903/2009 (Medicine Control Act) was approved. This
provision consistently improves medicine traceability, setting an obligation to report to the
National Medicine Control System any information on irregular movement of medicine, i.e.,
distribution, transportation, the pharmaceutical act of orienting and furnishing medicine, and
prescription. It is expected that the system shall respond more efficiently to such information36.
Progress at the legislative level was also observed under Act 13.411/2016, approved
last year, which improves transparency and predictability for granting and renewing registrations
for medicines.
36
Palácio do Planalto. Act 13.411/2016: http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2015-2018/2016/lei/L13411.htm
14
9.
INTERNATIONAL TREATIES NEGOTIATIONS
Brazil has engaged in negotiations with Mexico to extend Economic Complementarity
Agreement (ECA) nº. 53. The countries are now in the second phase of negotiations and the
scope of the treaty encompasses IPR protection, among other areas.37
It is also important to mention that MERCOSUR and the European Union are negotiating
a free trade agreement. Up to this date, the rounds of negotiations include an IPR protection
chapter. The next round is scheduled for March, 2017.
Brazil also implemented WIPO’s Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published
Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled signed and
ratified in 201538.
10.
LESS BUREAUCRACY
The Ministry of Development Industry and Trade (MDIC)39 established a work group to
propose normative and procedural changes to improve and simplify Brazilian Ministry’s and its
supervised offices’ rules, actions, and internal procedures, including INPI. In this context, MDIC
held a public hearing40 and received over 200 proposals for improvement. As a result of that
process, MDIC established, among other goals41:





Decreasing the number of phases and the term of analysis of the public
acknowledgement of technology transfer contracts by INPI;
Standardize, update and speed up the internal procedures of patent and
trademark applications analysis by tailoring and reviewing INPI’s administrative
rules;
Implement an electronic registration system for computer programs and layout
designs of integrated circuits;
Simplify and speed up external public access to INPI’s official acts by publishing
the new Industrial Property Magazine; and
Register 100% of the services rendered to the public in the “Services Portal”.
The National Council of Justice (CNJ) took another step towards decreasing
bureaucracy requirements by regulating the Treaty Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization
for Foreign Public Documents. The convention aims to speed up and simplify the validation of
documents among the 112 signatory countries. This will allow the signatory countries to
37
See http://www19.iadb.org/intal/conexionintal/2015/12/02/brasil-y-mexico-dan-otro-paso-hacia-el-librecomercio-bilateral/?lang=en See also http://eleconomista.com.mx/industrias/2016/02/18/propone-brasil-mexicopacto-integracion-industrial.
38
See http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/notifications/marrakesh/treaty_marrakesh_21.html
39
MDIC. Last access on February 9th, 2017. http://www.mdic.gov.br/noticias/1897-mdic-cria-grupo-de-trabalho-desimplificacao-administrativa
40
MDIC. Last access on February 9th, 2017. http://www.mdic.gov.br/noticias/2085-mdic-abre-consulta-publicasobre-simplificacao-administrativa
41
MDIC. Last access on February 9th, 2017. http://www.mdic.gov.br/noticias/2219-mdic-implementa-medidas-desimplificacao-administrativa-para-melhorar-ambiente-de-negocios
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mutually recognize each other’s publicly recognized documents, reducing bureaucracy
requirements for recognizing documents such as technology transfer agreements42.
42
The Hague Handbook Convention – Normative Acts:
http://translate.google.com.br/translate?u=http://www.cnj.jus.br/poder-judiciario/relacoes-internacionais/convencaoda-apostila-da-haia/atos-normativos&sl=pt&tl=en&hl=&ie=UTF-8
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