By using licensed technology, domestic manufacturers can win the competition with other emerging markets for a share of the North American import segment.
*By Gérson Schmitt, president of ABES
US laws against unfair competition pose a serious risk to companies involved in piracy. These rules make it illegal to sell manufactured products to the United States if they are produced by companies that use pirated software.
But these rules are also an opportunity for the various sectors of Brazilian industry to stand out in relation to other emerging countries, such as China and Russia, which are also vying for a share of that country's import market.
The 2011 Global Innovation Index and the World IP Office (WIPO) report, with trends in patent applications worldwide, show that emerging markets and BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), specifically, they lack a rapid rise in the rankings of the most innovative nations, including by increasing patents.
Intellectual property protection can stimulate innovation capabilities in Brazilian industry and become a competitive differentiator in the North American market, currently motivated to contain the unlicensed use of IT (Information Technology), creating barriers for companies that appropriate misuse of technologies to gain an advantage in your market. This positioning results in an extremely favorable environment for exporting companies responsible for the use of IT in their operations.
Each of these emerging markets has software piracy rates higher than Brazil's, in some cases by more than 20%, according to the Keystone Strategy study. This research also points to the possibility of expanding exports from several national sectors, such as the chemical industry, which can increase its exports by US$ 1.5 billion competing for the US$ 18.6 billion supplied by other emerging countries. Brazilian automakers, for example, have the opportunity to capture a share of the US$ 59 billion in car exports currently supplied by other emerging markets with higher software piracy rates.
It was observing these opportunities to increase the participation of the Brazilian industry in this market that ABES launched, in 2012, the Exporte Legal Campaign, with the objective of encouraging manufacturers to assume responsibility for the legal compliance of their IT systems and guarantee the capacity of companies to compete fairly.
In terms of the Brazilian domestic market, legislation that protects companies that operate with governance and market rules based on fair competition and respect for software intellectual property must also be considered. Like other countries, Brazil's economy is increasingly globalized and needs to protect companies that operate under rules of fair competition and discourage or prevent market access by companies that do not respect market rules and legislation in force in the country.
For this year, the association is already preparing for the second phase of the campaign that will be aimed at encouraging Brazilian entrepreneurs to commit to creating an environment of fair competition within the country. By strengthening legitimate domestic competition, these companies help the country accelerate its growth and establish itself as a major global competitor.
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