Source: China IP News

"In the past year, BRICS countries have achieved remarkable progress in the IP field under the leadership and support of the State Intellectual Property office (SIPO) of China as our secretariat and presidency office," said Luiz Otávio Pimentel, president of the National Institute of Industrial Property of Brazil (INPI), who came to China to participate the 10th Meeting of BRICS Heads of Intellectual Property Offices in Chengdu, China.

In the view of Lewis Otávio Pimentel, both Brazil and China are in the process of reform and opening-up, enabling them to have a lot in common in the IP field." As intangible assets are of great importance for them to boost competitiveness in the world, industrial enterprises should have stronger awareness of IP protection, especially patent protection. Through IP protection policies, regulators can help industrial enterprises secure their competitiveness from being copied by others, keeping its leadership in the international arena.

"Our purpose is to provide convenient patent examination services to enterprises from BRICS countries and promote their development," said Pimentel, "Thanks to the outcome of this meeting, we can improve our services in patent examination, so as to provide better IP-related services and increase our efficiency." In accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding between SIPO and INPI on the Pilot Project of the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH), the project has been under way since February 1, 2018. With the project's operation, applicants may submit the PPH requests to SIPO or INPI, greatly improving the efficiency of patent prosecution.

"SIPO has made outstanding contributions to patent examination. I think China's experience can be learned by BRICS partners and many other countries. In the meantime, we also appreciate SIPO's efforts on beefing up local patent examination cooperation centers. In Chengdu, we have seen the Sichuan Center's strong examination capacity and very efficient working environment." Pimentel believed this meeting will also help Brazil to improve efficiency of patent examination, elevate level of IP work, and let more BRICS enterprises enjoy the convenience of IP services such as patent examination.

"BRICS are emerging economies of the world. This meeting has gathered representatives from BRICS countries. And through this meeting, our five countries will deepen our cooperation in the IP field to achieve more results." Pimentel told journalists, "I would like to thank SIPO again, and thank China for its efforts and support during the cooperation of BRICS."