IPTango: Technology transfer

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Monday, 1 June 2020

Upcoming events

Verónica Rodríguez Arguijo June 01, 2020 No comments:

WHAT'S GOING ON THIS WEEK?

On 2 June 2020, the Brazilian Intellectual Property Association (ABPI) will hold the webinar Influencers: Legal and Behavioural Aspects in light of the Pandemic (in Portuguese). The speakers are Gisela Peres Neves Baptista, Gustavo Escobar, and Camila Coutinho. The moderator is Deborah Portilho. Register here.

The webinar Federal Law on Plant Varieties: Myths and Realities to the Amendment to UPOV-91 (in Spanish) will take place on 3 June 2020. The event is part of the Permanent Seminar on Intellectual Property 2020-1 (PSIP) which is organized by the Legal Research Institute (IIJ) of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). The speaker is Leobigildo Córdova Téllez, Director General of the National Service for the Inspection and Certification of Seeds (SNICS).

On the same day, the webinar Intellectual Property Aspects of Live Streaming (in Portuguese), organized by the Brazilian Association of Industrial Property Agents (ABAPI), will be streamed on ABAPI TV (YouTube channel). The speakers are Ana Paula Borges Martins, Rafael Atab, and Cláudio Lins de Vasconcelos. The moderator is Ana Beatriz N. Guerra.

On 4 June 2020, the following webinars are scheduled:

How to Draft Efficient Dispute Resolution Clauses for your IP and Commercial Contracts (in Spanish), organized by WIPO.
International technology transfer – best practices and lessons learned (in English), organized by the Latin America IPR Helpdesk.
A path that seems easy and cheap: Academic Plagiarism and Digital Piracy (in Spanish), organized by the Inter-American Association of Intellectual Property (ASIPI). Speakers: María Soledad Alvarez, Virginia Servent Palmieri, Ignacio Andrade, and Mercedes Castells.
3D Printing and the Industry: Technology Developments and Intellectual Property Implications (in Portuguese) organized by the law firm Leão Propriedade Intelectual. Speakers: Professor Daniel Paz de Araújo and Fabiano de Bem da Rocha.

WIPO CONVERSATION ON IP AND AI

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) announced the Second Session of the WIPO Conversation on IP and AI will be held online from 7 to 9 July 2020.

The First Session took place in September 2019 and “brought together member states and other stakeholders to discuss the impact of Al on IP policy”. The Revised Issues Paper on Intellectual Property Policy and Artificial Intelligence containing the results of the public consultation launched after the first session can be reviewed here.

PAST EVENTS

Did you miss some events held the last week? The following are still available on-demand:

26-27 May. Seminar Madrid and The Hague systems in Mexico (in Spanish and English), WIPO and IMPI. The program is available here.
27 May. Webinar COVID-19 and the future of the Courts (in Portuguese), ABPI.
27 May. Webinar Artificial Intelligence and Law (in Spanish), Panamerican University and AMDI.
28 May. Webinar Copyright challenges faced by the music industry after COVID-19 (in Spanish), Abogados contra la Crisis.
28 May. From West to East: Trade, IP and Investment after the Crisis (in English), FIDE.
30 May. Webinar Digital rights and copyright (in Spanish), AMDI, AMD, the Autonomous University of Nayarit, and the Autonomous University of Colima. From minute 19:08 to 1:05:41.

If you have a craving for more, review the full list of events here!

Brazil: refining procedures

Patricia Covarrubia July 13, 2017 No comments:

On July 11, INPI Resolution 199/2017 brought to the public a new examination guidelines for the registration of industrial property license agreements and registration of integrated circuit topography, technology transfer (TT) and franchising.

The new guidelines are in line with the amendments implemented through Instrução Normativa No. 70/2017 (effective since July 1st). According to the guidelines the process of registration is simplified, and also, it warranties the legal autonomy to the parties' will.

Chapter I covers ‘agreements signed or registered by INPI’. Some of the eye catching are three since they were not regulated before:

INPI will register: a) ‘Know-how’ contracts which includes the acquisition of knowledge and techniques not covered by IPRs or the provision of technological information for the production of goods and services [before this new Norm INPI neither annotated agreements nor issued certificate of registration for the license of non-patented proprietary technological knowledge]; and b) The contract or invoice for the provision of technical and scientific services that stipulates the conditions for obtaining techniques, planning and programming methods, research, studies and projects for the execution or provision of specialized services.
Technology export contracts are exempted from registration.

Chapter II covers ‘the application for registration or registration of contract’. Chapter III covers ‘the parties to the contract’. Of relevance is: ‘The contract must identify the parties to the contract and their legal representatives, name or denomination and the complete addresses, including, city, federation and the country’. In relation to parties domiciled abroad, they ‘must constitute and maintain a duly qualified attorney domiciled in the country, with powers to represent it administratively and judicially, including to receive summonses.' Note that contracts (license/assignment) regulated by this chapter will be granted by way of title and to be submitted to INPI. Chapter IV, V and IV cover 'the terms', the certificate' (specifications that the certificate should contain), and finally the 'general and transitional provisions' respectively.

Source INPI.

Entrevista a Pedro Roffe, recién homenajeado en Ginebra por su contribución a la Propiedad Intelectual

Rodrigo Ramirez Herrera @ramahr June 16, 2017 No comments:

"La transferencia de tecnología persiste como una asignatura pendiente de la comunidad internacional. Pero con el transcurso del tiempo no creo que sea constructivo insistir en que el norte le debe algo al sur. La tarea debe ser esencialmente doméstica, estableciendo las condiciones adecuadas para la absorción de la tecnología importada, apoyando la creación nacional" (Pedro Roffe)

Para muchos, el abogado chileno Pedro Roffe ha sido sinónimo de las discusiones sobre la transferencia de tecnología y los derechos de propiedad intelectual. Generaciones de negociadores comerciales, políticos, funcionarios internacionales, académicos y estudiantes de todo el mundo se han beneficiado de la profundidad de sus conocimientos, su experiencia y su visión en la búsqueda de lograr una mejor comprensión de la dinámica compleja en torno a estas cuestiones.

Como miembro del Centro Internacional de Comercio y Desarrollo Sustentable de Naciones Unidas ), ha contribuido en numerosos reportes de Naciones Unidas y publicó varios trabajos en revistas especializadas. Entre otros, este abogado de la Universidad de Chile, tiene estudios en la New York University, Amsterdam University y el Graduate Institute of International Studies (Geneva).

En la secretaría de la Conferencia de las Naciones Unidas sobre Comercio y Desarrollo (UNCTAD), donde pasó la mayor parte de su carrera profesional, Roffe jugó un papel decisivo en las negociaciones sobre el Código Internacional de Conducta sobre Transferencia de Tecnología y es pionero en el debate sobre las implicaciones del Acuerdo sobre los ADPIC para los países en desarrollo. Al salir de las Naciones Unidas, Roffe se unió al Centro Internacional de Comercio y Desarrollo Sostenible (ICTSD), donde, durante los últimos 15 años, dirigió un vasto cuerpo de investigación de políticas frente a las muchas dimensiones del sistema mundial de propiedad intelectual, y la identificación de nuevas direcciones y opciones de políticas para el desarrollo. Esta literatura influyente aborda los retos de la innovación y la propiedad intelectual en el contexto de los acuerdos de la OMC, la OMPI y de libre comercio con el objetivo explícito de facilitar el desarrollo sostenible y los objetivos de política pública.

Por sus méritos, organismos internacionales, encabezados por la Organización Mundial de la Propiedad Intelectual (OMPI), la Organización Mundial del Comercio (OMC), la Conferencia de las Naciones Unidas sobre Comercio y Desarrollo (UNCTAD), el mundo de la academia, el gobierno de Chile y la sociedad civil, participaron en una conferencia en Ginebra, Suiza, en su honor en reconocimiento de la trascedental labor que ha tenido como líder influyente en los debates globales que configuran el sistema internacional de propiedad intelectual, sobre todo, teniendo un destacado rol en un abanico de temas tales como la transferencia de tecnología, el comercio, el desarrollo, la inversión y la salud pública.

En una reciente entrevista es posible conocer aspectos de su concepción de la Propiedad Intelectual donde "el diálogo es fundamental para logar los equilibrios, citando por ejemplo la Constitución de los Estados Unidos y el Acuerdo de los ADPIC, que por varias consideraciones ha constituido un cambio copernicano en la evolución de la propiedad intelectual [y] donde, el equilibrio es central para hacer frente a cuestiones que la propiedad intelectual en el pasado no estaba habituada a lidiar. La propiedad intelectual ha dejado en el Siglo XXI de ser un estamento estanco, separada del resto de la sociedad y de las temáticas centrales que la movilizan. Cuestiones fundamentales tales como el acceso a la salud, al conocimiento y a los desafíos tales como el cambio climático que pasan, de un modo u otro, por un sistema de PI que responda a estos desafíos, ofreciendo soluciones y no ser un obstáculo a la satisfacción de estas necesidades propias del mundo contemporáneo".

El texto completo de la entrevista está disponible en este enlace.

Fuente: Constanza Zülch (Encargada de Comunicaciones del INAPI)

Economic growth of a country: technology transfer

Patricia Covarrubia October 27, 2016 No comments:

From Stephany Soto, Clarke Modet & Co we hear of a Plan for Technology Transfer (TT)in Peru. The plan is taken effect from 2016 to 2021 and the aim is to promote technological development in the country. This plan is to contribute to the existing one called ‘National Plan for Science, Technology and Innovation for Competitiveness and Human Development (PNCTI 2006-2021)’.

Webinar available at Latin America IPR SME Helpdesk

Technology progress is linked to the economic growth and high income in countries and this plan involves both the private and economic sector. Universities will play a crucial role since they encompass ‘Research’. Research usually leads to development of new products and processes which are followed by commercialisation - providing economic returns. Miss Soto says “The plan was created with the aim of promoting the development and transfer of technological innovations in companies raising the competitiveness and productivity, added value with criterion of economic and environmental sustainability”.

In this line, the State intention is to organise “technology meetings, technology fairs and other events to create networking among entrepreneurs and researchers in order to make easier the interaction and promote collaborative projects.” This will hand in hand with imparting training in intellectual property (IP).

Why IP should matter for TT?
Technology is valuable, provoking copies or imitations. If technology is copied and/or imitated it reduces the possible profits of the inventor: and who would like to invent without rewards where time and money have been spent and you will not have recognition?

What IP does it’s to encourage innovation by (the government) granting successful inventors a temporal monopoly over the invention.

In Peru if companies have a TT agreement/contract, such license must be in writing and registered before the INDECOPI to be enforceable before 3rd parties. And it is good to know that Peru is member of the PCT.

In closing I would like to see more policies in TT and of course giving incentive to this matter. For example in Costa Rica there is a Law (No. 20.241) on R&D which provides incentives: 35 % tax credit on the amount invested in R&D, when duly certified by the National Production Development Corporation; remaining 65 % can be considered as ‘expenses’.

Chile: Plataforma INAPI Conecta

Rodrigo Ramirez Herrera @ramahr April 21, 2016 No comments:

En el auditórium de la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de Chile, se realizó el viernes 15 de abril, la presentación del nuevo sitio del Instituto Nacional de Propiedad Industrial, INAPI CONECTA, un punto de encuentro de nuevas tecnologías protegidas a través de la propiedad industrial.

INAPI Conecta tiene como principal objetivo servir como un espacio de encuentro, en el cual creadores e instituciones nacionales puedan dar a conocer innovaciones que cuentan con derechos de propiedad industrial a potenciales usuarios e interesados en explotarlas comercialmente. Este es un espacio público y gratuito que busca fomentar y acelerar la transferencia tecnológica y la comercialización de nuevas tecnologías.

Es así como los titulares de derechos de propiedad industrial pueden publicar sus patentes de invención, modelos de utilidad, diseños y dibujos industriales, en www.inapiconecta.cl. Además, los titulares pueden editar y modificar sus publicaciones para hacerlas más atractiva al público y de esa forma capturar mayor interés de un potencial interesado en explotarla comercialmente.

INAPI Conecta pone a disposición de la comunidad nacional cientos de innovaciones con la disposición de aplicar nuevas tecnología en sus procesos industriales, comerciales o de investigación. Para facilitar este intercambio de información, INAPI Conecta posee guías y manuales para apoyar y fomentar la transferencia tecnológica.Existe disponible información de 48 tecnologías nacionales que pertenecen a las áreas de Biotecnología, Electrónica, Farmacéutica, Mecánica y Química, las cuales pertenecen a las Universidades de Concepción, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Universidad de Chile, Universidad de La Frontera, Universidad de Santiago, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso y la Corporación de Inventores de Chile.

Fuente: Constanza Zülch B. (Comunicaciones INAPI)

Technology Transfer: linking the academy with the industry

Patricia Covarrubia March 15, 2016 No comments:

The Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) notes in its webpage the importance of the relationship between academia and the industry for the opportunity to market the research conducted in the country. Promoting this occurrence then, during the 1st March until the 10th March took place the 3rd edition of Academy training Transfer and Commercialization of Technology for the Americas aiming “to develop human resources for high-performance transfer activities and commercialization of technologies, especially in the areas of intellectual property, technology assessment, business plan, business models of technology, commercialization of technologies, among other topics.”

The event was seen as a great opportunity to exchange information among the participants. IMPI’s Director General observed that approx. 52% of Mexican patent applications are made by research centers and universities, acknowledging the importance of strengthening the links among the administrative offices granting patents and the industry as well as understanding the needs of the industry. The Director also noted that in Mexico, “innovation policies are associated as instruments of public policy and play a key role in promoting Mexican creativity,” and thus, noting the relevance of the IP system.

Mexico is a member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) known as international patent. There are more than 20 Latin American countries that are members of the PCT allowing members to pursue patent protection for an invention simultaneously in a number of countries by filing a single international patent application, However, note that the granting of patents remains under the control of the national IPO (called the ‘national phase’). IMPI is the only Latin America office which has signed an agreement with the European Patent Office taking advantage of a fast-track examination procedures in the national phase i.e. Patent Prosecution Highway. As of May 25, 2010, the USPTO has eliminated the fee for the petition to make special under the PPH programs. Also there is a PPH pilot program between the USPTO and the IMPI that commenced on July 1, 2015, and will run for a period of one year ending on June 30, 2016 (more info here).

Is there such a thing as policy ‘space’ in TRIPS?

Patricia Covarrubia April 17, 2014 No comments:

An actual space trip!

Answering this question has been the task of The Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, together with a number of international patent scholars around the world – including ‘Latinos’ contributors such as Carlos Correa (Director of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies on Industrial Property and Economics Law, University of Buenos Aires (Argentina)) and Denis Borges Barbosa (Professor at the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)). The “Declaration on Patent Protection: Regulatory Sovereignty under TRIPS” (“Patent Declaration” in short) can be assessed here.

Today the “Patent Declaration”, which indeed shows the policy space in TRIPS, is launched and we can participate and support it. According to Matthias Lamping (currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute, who kindly passed the information to the iptango), “The Patent Declaration supplements our existing work on issues of international IP law, such as the Declaration on a ‘Balanced Interpretation of the Three-Step Test in Copyright Law’ (www.ip.mpg.de/en/pub/news/declaration-threesteptest.cfm), which deals with limitations and exceptions to copyright protection, and the ‘Principles for Intellectual Property Provisions in Bilateral and Regional Agreements’ (www.ip.mpg.de/en/pub/news/fta_statement.cfm).”

Scanning through the ‘Patent Declaration’ it seems that actually international law leaves policy space for pursuing national interest. For example, the declaration explains that there exists flexibility for states to use compulsory licenses. Indeed, it asserts that this is “ensured by the fact that neither Article 31 of the TRIPS Agreement nor Article 5A of the Paris Convention contains any restriction with regard to the grounds on which a compulsory licence may be issued.”

Another point covered by the declaration is ‘transit’. The “Patent Declaration” goes on to say that “ Patent rights should not create barriers to legitimate trade (cf. Recital 1 of the Preamble and Article 41 of the TRIPS Agreement). Goods in transit cannot be deemed to infringe any of the exclusive rights that a patent normally confers if those goods are not destined for the market of the country where transit occurs. The territoriality principle applicable under patent law has not been overridden by the TRIPS Agreement (see, for example, Paragraph 6(i) in fine of the 30 August 2003 WTO decision on the ‘Implementation of Paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health’, concerning the export of pharmaceutical products produced or imported under a compulsory licence). Customs authorities and courts of the country of transit usually lack competence to determine whether goods in transit are infringing in the countries of origin or destination and cannot decide to grant preliminary or permanent injunctions in their respect.
The detention of goods by customs authorities based on claims of infringement can also violate the principle of freedom of transit enshrined in Article V of the GATT.” In this point, I am sure we could hear some opinions from Brazil – you may remember several seizures of generic drugs in transit by the Dutch customs authorities in 2008 and 2009 which showed friction between the European Union legislation and the World Trade Organization.

I leave you with this piece of information in the hope that it would be of interest to you.

Chile: Primer encuentro internacional de transferencia tecnológica

Rodrigo Ramirez Herrera @ramahr October 05, 2011 No comments:

Ayer fue inaugurado en Santiago de Chile el Primer Encuentro de Transferencia Tecnológica en el cual participan expertos internacionales de países que están a la vanguardia en valorización y comercialización de tecnologías. El evento fue organizado con el fin de generar un espacio de encuentro entre investigadores y empresas para que se conecten y puedan dar solución a necesidades que requiere el mercado.

El encuentro cuenta con la presencia del Ministro de Economía Pablo Longueira, Corfo, INAPI y FIA. Esta última es la Fundación para la Innovación Agraria (FIA) que a través de su programa FIA-PIPRA apoya y articula a los distintos actores del ámbito agroalimentario de Chile que realizan I+D, para gestionar estratégicamente la propiedad intelectual y capturar el valor del conocimiento generado, con la finalidad de impulsar la innovación en el sector agrícola y alimentario.

Durante ambas jornadas se expondrá sobre las tendencias en países desarrollados, en donde los Centros de I+D son generadores de tecnologías que salen al mercado gracias a la conexión que hay entre estos centros y las empresas.Entre los relatores se encuentran Stephen Ciesinski del SRI International (entidad que tiene en su trayectoria la creación del mouse para el computador), Rainer Fisher Director de Fraunhofer (creadores del MP3) y Phyl Speser CEO de Foresight. Además habrá una charla a cargo del gerente general del Fondo Copec UC, Enrique Pizarro, con el fin de transmitir en qué se fijan los venture capitals al momento de invertir en un proyecto con base de I+D.

Para hoy la jornada está focalizada en los aspectos de Propiedad Intelectual y su gestión para facilitar la Transferencia Tecnológica. También se dará a conocer herramientas y mejores prácticas de importantes instituciones nacionales e internacionales para lograr la comercialización de tecnologías. Entre los expositores se encuentra el estadounidense Alan Bennett, director ejecutivo de PIPRA, (Public Intellectual Property Resource for Agriculture), de la Universidad de California; Elena Canetti, vicepresidenta de Transferencia Tecnológica de la empresa Marqera (empresa global dedicada a la comercialización de propiedad intelectual); Joel Saavedra, vicerrector de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso; y Rodrigo Cruzat, gerente de Biofrutales.Para esta tarde se consideran las exposiciones de Jorge Alzamora, subdirector de Transferencia del Conocimiento de INAPI; Juan Schneider, emprendedor e inventor chileno residente en Canadá, creador del primer proceso industrial continuo a nivel mundial para la fabricación de capas a nivel nanométrico, quien además es dueño de siete patentes que cubren 25 países en Europa, Asia y América; y Cristian Hernández, director de Negocios de la Fundación Ciencias para la Vida, quien presentará los primeros resultados de un proyecto conjunto entre dicha Fundación e INAPI para promover transferencia tecnológica en el país.

Fuente: Comunicaciones Inapi (Diego Ponce G.)

Puerto Rico gears up for university-originated R&D exploitation reforms

Jeremy January 04, 2011 No comments:

In October of last year Puerto Rico's Legislative Assembly approved Act 150 to sponsor and promote the participation of academics, professors and researchers from the University of Puerto Rico in the development of intellectual property and the transfer of technology into industry. The objective of this legislation is to increase research into and the development of technology in Puerto Rico's academic arena, in a broadly similar manner to that in which the Small Business Patent Procedures Act, the Bayh-Dole Act and the Cooperative Research and Technology Enhancement (CREATE) Act of 2004 have functioned in the United States. Previously, University of Puerto Rico professors, researchers and academics were not allowed to license their innovations or work alongside commercial entities.

Source and further details: "Puerto RicoTechnology transfer: the way forward", article by Eugenio J Torres-Oyola, Laura Belendez, Maristella Collazo (Ferraiuoli Torres Marchand & Rovira), posted on International Law Office.

Brazil Signs Agreement with England and Seeks Knowledge for the 2016 Olympic Games: Will the Existing Technology Transfer Framework Permit it?

José Carlos Vaz e Dias November 22, 2009 No comments:

The visit of the Brazilian President Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva to Mr. Gordon Brown on November 4, 2009 at 10 Downing Street had the clear purpose of securing assistance and technology transfer for the organization of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Besides meeting the British Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell, a Cooperation Agreement was signed on the same day. This Agreement will allow the Brazilian Organizing Committee for the 2016 Olympic Games to have access to the experience and knowledge gathered by the British Olympic Organizers for 2012. The Brazilians are keen to learn about the impact of the Games to the environment and to the population. Therefore, the document aims to make possible the exchange of information between the countries and continuous visiting programs.

Further to that, the Brazilian government is very much interested in the effects and results of the British Act 1995 (OSPA) that protects the Olympic and Paralympic symbols, mottos and various works and the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006, as they have been recognized by the British government as indispensable instruments for funding the games.

The way ambush marketing will be dealt with in practical terms by the British is also a matter of great interest to the Brazilians, as the practice of false representation or any association, affiliation or similar relationship with the sports event has not been previously known locally.

Many people wonder whether this Cooperation Agreement and further conveyance of knowledge from British companies will really work out due to the existing technology transfer framework in Brazil. Limitations on foreign exchange controls, taxations, government approvals and difficulties in obtaining working visa permits still persist and are yet to be phased out due to the opening of the economy in the last 20 years and the good momentum Brazil lives.

Believe or not, such rules were implemented back in 1975 when Brazil was thriving for deeper industrialization and lived under a dictatorial government.

It seems nevertheless that technology transfer limitations will not apply to the organization of the 2016 Olympics, at least this is thought of IP scholars as Articles 2 and 3 of the Brazilian Olympic Act provide special treatment for foreign professionals coming to Brazil for the organization, planning and implementation of the Games.

Maybe the 2016 Olympic Games is a good opportunity for the Brazilian government to get rid of such outdated legislation to technology transfer. Who knows? This may be a clear skeptical answer to those who know that the main characteristic of the Brazilian government is the persisting life of the old despite the prevailing new ideas in economy and politics.

Brazil exports agricultural technology to developing world

Jeremy September 08, 2008 No comments:

According to China View, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is negotiating with Brazil to transfer its agricultural technology to other developing countries. According to the Brazilian authorities the US and Brazil agreed on a deal to transfer technologies developed by Embrapa -- the Brazilian Agricultural Research Council -- in order to help developing countries increase their output of corn, soy bean and wheat. Under this deal, technical know-how will be transferred to Angola and Mozambique as well as Central America. Brazil will provide technical assistance, training and technology transfer for countries that wish to improve their agricultural productivity.

The report does not mention the terms under which the Brazilian technical know-how is to be exported.