On last October 8, a fund proposal regarding the cooperation of eight South American Patent and Trademark Offices on IP matters was presented to the Inter-American Development Bank (hereinafter only IDB) for approval. The objective of the proposal is to obtain financing for the technical integration of Patent and Trademark Offices from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Surinam and Uruguay. 
The answer of the IDB (created to promote and finance the economical and social developments of Latin American countries) is expected to be issued on March 2009 and its approval may represent the first step to the creation of a regional integration system regarding a single and common IP database platform in a nearby future.
This proposal has been regarded as a good example of possible technical regional integration and strengthening of IP rights in the South American countries. Further to that, the Proposal is an effective mechanism to secure the sharing of database information and current different IP pracrtices regarding the prosecution of patents and trademarks.
The expected practical consequences of the proposal by IDB are the reduction of the current time frame for IP registration procedure and the quality improvement of the services due to the share of information and proceedings.
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