The Minister of Industry, Trade and Services, Marcos Pereira, presented today in Sao Paulo, the modernization of process analysis of patents and trademarks of the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) to 40 representatives of the private sector. The strategy was developed in partnership with the Competitive Brazil Movement (MBC).

"Solving the INPI of the problem is a priority of my administration. Subsequently the first meeting I had with Jorge Gerdau, promoted a meeting with the technical consultants in Brasilia and we arranged this meeting today to move forward, "said the minister. For him, the partnership with the private sector is critical to the development of the project, whose main objective is to reduce the average time analysis of trademarks and patents in Brazil which now ranges from three to 12 years for brands, and can range from nine 14 years for patents. "The state can not afford to make the necessary changes. First, because there are no resources, second because only the bid of the hiring of consultants would take more than a year. "

Marcos Pereira mentioned that recently took possession 70 new examiners of the PTO as a way to begin addressing the challenge of strengthening the organ. In addition, the minister said that last Friday, during the World Economic Forum for Latin America, held in Medellin in at least three bilateral meetings made sure to include issues related to the INPI, including the conversations with the Bank Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

The President of the Superior Council of the MBC, Jorge Gerdau believes the technical cooperation agreement will support to make the most efficient PTO. "The performance of the INPI is an example of difficulty we have in the country and the need to invest in modernization." He cited as an example of successful partnership between Anvisa and MBC, which reduced the size of the waiting lists projects in the agency. Gerdau also emphasized that competitiveness should be a topic of concern for governments. "We need an effort to make the federal, state and local governments from entering the process of modernization, otherwise we will not have a competitive country."

The President of the INPI, Luiz Pimentel, highlighted the concern with the delay of the organ in the analysis of trademarks and patents. "The country would take ten years to clear all existing processes today at the INPI queue.Just to give you an idea, in 2015 received more than 150,000 trademark applications. " Currently, there are 642,000 cases in the queue first and second instance marks. Pimentel also said that requests for resources are one of the reasons for the delay and the investment in operational performance is critical to streamline the analysis time.

"The delay directly interfere when foreign companies assess to invest or not in Brazil," said the CEO of MBC, Claudio Gastal. By improving the management and governance of the INPI processes, there will be more agile and efficient and Brazil will be better suited to international best practices. "This is fundamental to the development of the country's competitiveness," he said.

One of the representatives of the private sector in the event, the chairman of SAP Brazil, Cristina Palmaka, to welcome the public, highlighted the company's role in the innovation sector. "We invest in innovation not only for their solutions, but also as a form of collaboration for the development of Brazilian IT," he said. The company has Research Center, SAP Labs Latin America, located in São Leopoldo, in Rio Grande do Sul. "Last week, we completed 10 years in the country with an investment of R $ 100 million between creation and expansion of SAP Labs "he said.

Action plan

Through a partnership with the private sector, a diagnosis of the current situation INPI will be made, with notes on the need to restructure its processes to ensure improvement of the business environment, increased legal certainty and encouraging investment. The INPI's restructuring project will involve four pillars: Problem sizing and opportunities;optimization of the review process; strategic plan and improved management and increased efficiency and reduction of the period for granting patents. The agreement, developed under the Modernizing Public Management Program (PMGP) MBC, also provides the mapping of best practices and global trends.