B&R Patents & Trademarks in Latin America

Source: Wikimedia Commons

The Office of the United States Trade Representative has released it’s 2012 Special 301 Report.

This document is an annual review of the state of intellectual property rights, protection and enforcement in trading partners around the world. This report is a valuable guide to understand current issues in IP Law and to highlight positive and negative trends on emerging markets.

The report creates a list of priority issues on IP. This year’s  report has mentioned Capacity Building Efforts, focusing on the lack of prosecution and conviction on the ground of IP infringements. The ever growing trends in Trademark Counterfeiting and Copyright Piracy, warning that the markets of pirated and counterfeit goods will soon surpass the sales volume of the licit vendors, and commenting on new ways for transportation and selling of counterfeit products such as the separate shipping of labels and packaging in order to evade enforcement efforts. Piracy over the internet, demanding stronger actions to strengthen legal regimes and enhance enforcement in order to respond to the increased availability of broadband internet connections and the piracy in new mobile devices. The violation of trade secrets and forced technology transfer, expressing the dangers of trade-distortive policies designed to promote ‘indigenous innovation’ through the lack of enforcement of IP rights and the creating of market barriers based on IP disclosures laws. Finally, the report also highlights the government use of software, trademarks and DNS, implementation of WTO TRIPS agreements, WIPO treaties and issues on IP and health policy.

However, this report is notorious for it’s Country Reports, in which US trading partners are sorted into the “Priority Watch List” and the “Watch List”, depending on their progress on IP issues and the vulnerability for US’s IP rights owners in their markets.

As to Latin American countries, Argentina, Chile and Venezuela were listed on the Priority Watch List, alongside Ukraine, Thailand, China and India. Concerns on these countries include inefficiency in Argentina’s judicial system, lack of protection against unfair commercial use and growing copyright piracy on the internet; Chile’s inefficient system for addressing patent issues for pharmaceutical products, unfair commercial use, and to fulfill it’s commitments  under the US-Chile FTA; and Venezuela’s withdrawal from the Andean Community in 2006, and widespread piracy and counterfeiting.

On the watch list, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru are said to have progressed in protecting IP Rights, but issues on enforcement and internet piracy remain largely neglected.

Read the Full Report here.

In Bogotá, Colombia march 16, 2012 the Culture ministers of the Andean Community countries agreed to start the Andean Plan for the Development of Cultural Industries 2012-2015 and gave precise guidelines to advance the proper management, enhancement and social appropriation of the Intangible Cultural material and Heritage.

These decisions were adopted at the First Meeting of the Andean Council of Ministers of Culture and Cultures, held on Friday March 16in Bogota, with the participation of the Ministers of Culture of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, as well as the vice Minister Intercultural of the Ministry of Culture of Bolivia and vice Minister of Ecuador Heritage Coordinator.

http://www.comunidadandina.org/prensa/notas/np19-3-12.htm

The WIPO: International Patent Filings Set New Record in 2011

The past days (March, 5, 2012) was published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) its annual audit of Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) filings from the last year. The principal date gave with this publication it is related with the growth of the volume of applications filed in the last year, that represents an increase of 10.7% over 2010 and the most important growth rate since 2005. “International patent filings under the WIPO-administered Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) set a new record in 2011 with 181,900 applications – a growth of 10.7“

The fastest growth in PCT applications are from China (+33.4%), Japan (+21%), Canada (+8.3%), the Republic of Korea (+8%) and the US (+8%). The United States remained the top PCT filer with 48,596 applications, but also there are a significant increases in applications originating from Japan and China (Japan and China filed 38,888 and 16,406 applications in 2011, respectively)

In Latin America the leader is Brazil with a 17.2% growth, but also have an important growth, countries like Mexico and Chile. In the next Graphic, we can see the international applications in latin American countries.

INTERNATIONAL APPLICATIONS BY LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES
Source: B&R Latina::Trademarks & Patents, elaborated with WIPO information

The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), it is an international system for seeking patents on a global scale. This system was adopted through the subscription of a treaty done at Washington on June 19 of 1970 . Actually 144 countries belong to the union according to the WIPO publication of the World Intellectual Property Indicators . Between these States, we can found different Latin-American countries: like Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Peru, Ecuador, Mexico, and Nicaragua.

The studied of the statistics available in the Wipos website can us say that since 2005, the sum of the number of PCT applications filed by this developing countries and transition economies has been increasing annually.

Seeking protection of the trademark “Peru”, the president’s INDECOPI Hebert Tassano Velaochaga makes the official application to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and The World Trade Organization (WTO) to register “Peru” as a country mark and official sign.
The trademark Peru, it’s an official sign indicating control and warranty adopted by the Peruvian State, and such as cannot be used commercially without permission. The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property which Peru became member in April 1995. In the article six refers to the prohibitions concerning the use without permission of the competent authorities of State Emblems, and/or Official Hallmarks indicating control and warranty adopted by them. Since now the Peru State can use this Article if needed.
After this, the trademark “Peru” will represent and distinguish the qualities of the Nation. And also will allow to the country promote the tourism, exports and to attract more foreign investment.
The National Institute for the Defense of Competition and Intellectual Property (INDECOPI) has played an important part in the promotion of the use of distinctive signs (especially collective marks and appellations of origin) by publicizing the various mechanisms for the registration and promotion of intellectual property.

Worldwide Symposium on Geographical Indications
The International Symposium on Geographical Indications is organized every other year by WIPO in cooperation with an interested Member State. It brings together representatives of Member States’ administrations, producers of GI products and specialists in the field of geographical indications. The Symposium is a forum for an exchange of ideas and views on various issues relating to the use and protection of geographical indications. The Symposium will offer insights into the technicalities of the subject and it is expected that it will contribute to the ongoing debate on geographical indications at the national and international levels. WIPO, the National Institute for the Defense of Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property of Peru (INDECOPI) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru jointly organize the 2011 Worldwide Symposium on Geographical Indications, in Lima, Peru, from June 22 to 24.

Since october 2010 Peru is a new member of The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents

This international treaty will make it easier to legalize public documents for their use in Peru and abroad as well, eliminating two steps: consular authentication and legalization at Foreign Relations Ministry.

“Under this international treaty (The Hague Apostille), which has been signed by some 90 countries, the paperwork for public documents to be used in another country will be faster, recognizing its authenticity by means of an “apostille” (or seal) put onto the document that will certify it in any of the countries who have signed this treaty,” said congresswoman Gabriela Perez del Solar.