Brazil and Portugal: reaffirming cooperation between national Institutes of Industrial Property

The industrial property offices of Brazil and Portugal are already working on a plan to advance the cooperation between them, with the renewal of the current Memorandum of Understanding, planned for April. The two Institute Nacional da Propiedad Industrial - INPI’s presidents, Jorge Avila and Leonor Trindade, met on March 21, 2011 at the Institute of Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro to discuss the prioritisation of some issues. For instance: to promote the exchange of patent examiners, to deepen the discussion on the creation of the trade mark ‘lusófona’ and work together to develop the area of IP in Portuguese speaking African countries.

According to the news, Portugal’s INPI has computerized all its procedures, with 99% of trade mark applications and 97% of patent applications made online. The institute has also innovated in the Portuguese working model offered to its employees, having successfully implemented teleworking, giving the option to examiners and technologists to work from home.