The National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) has made registration systems and online research tools more agile for consultation, but the agency needs to speed up the progress of intellectual property (IP) registration processes and strengthen its technical staff. The conclusion is from the report carried out by Amcham and released at the end of May, in São Paulo. The entity heard more than 150 executives and directors of innovation and research across the country.
The aspects that the INPI still needs to improve are the agility in the progress of the intellectual property registration processes (39%) and qualification and expansion of the technical staff (20%). According to the survey, most state that the average time for filing a patent grant takes 7 to 10 years (63%). Other 30% state that the term is longer than 10 years, and only 6% consider the term to be up to 6 years. When it comes to brands, time ranges from 2 to 6 years, in the opinion of 90% respondents. Only 4% stated that the term is greater than 7 years, and 2% considered a period of less than 2 years.
For most companies, none of the five directorates of the INPI – Trademarks, Patents, Contracts, Industrial Design and Software – is able to offer a reasonable estimate on the deadline for finalizing IP registration analyses. Pessimism is greatest in the Patent Directorate, with more than two-thirds of respondents stating that 'never' (55%) or 'rarely' (23%) deadlines are estimated. Only 17% consider estimates to be 'always' (3%) or 'often' (14%) reported, and 3% did not respond.
Asked about the priorities that the INPI should follow for technological evolution, 40% thinks that it would be the constant updating of the database and information available online. The investment in system improvements (stability, layout and search tools) was mentioned by other 14%, while 11% mentioned the online availability of the entire progress of processes and services. The qualification and expansion of the technical staff is also one of the actions indicated by 11% of the respondents.
The INPI's business evaluation report was given by Amcham's CEO, Deborah Vieitas, in the presence of Luiz Otávio Pimentel, president of INPI. "The Amcham report points out the problem that the delay in industrial property examinations represents the biggest barrier to innovation and entrepreneurship for Brazil when we think about the value chain", commented Pimentel.
According to INPI estimates, if the current staff of 263 examiners is maintained, the waiting time should rise to 19.2 years. "We would need a total of 5,050 examiners to clear the blacklog (stock of unanalyzed trademarks and patents) in one year." In the United States, for example, there are 60 patent registrations per examiner, while the number is 1,096 applications for each INPI specialist.
According to the president of the agency, the delay in protecting intellectual property rights harms competitiveness and reduces the power to defend against piracy. "The Brazilian business community has increasingly understood intellectual property as a tool to sustain innovation. There is also the understanding of the Brazilian government that the cost of the solution is public investment".
The aspects that the INPI still needs to improve are the agility in the progress of the intellectual property registration processes (39%) and qualification and expansion of the technical staff (20%). According to the survey, most state that the average time for filing a patent grant takes 7 to 10 years (63%). Other 30% state that the term is longer than 10 years, and only 6% consider the term to be up to 6 years. When it comes to brands, time ranges from 2 to 6 years, in the opinion of 90% respondents. Only 4% stated that the term is greater than 7 years, and 2% considered a period of less than 2 years.
For most companies, none of the five directorates of the INPI – Trademarks, Patents, Contracts, Industrial Design and Software – is able to offer a reasonable estimate on the deadline for finalizing IP registration analyses. Pessimism is greatest in the Patent Directorate, with more than two-thirds of respondents stating that 'never' (55%) or 'rarely' (23%) deadlines are estimated. Only 17% consider estimates to be 'always' (3%) or 'often' (14%) reported, and 3% did not respond.
Asked about the priorities that the INPI should follow for technological evolution, 40% thinks that it would be the constant updating of the database and information available online. The investment in system improvements (stability, layout and search tools) was mentioned by other 14%, while 11% mentioned the online availability of the entire progress of processes and services. The qualification and expansion of the technical staff is also one of the actions indicated by 11% of the respondents.
The INPI's business evaluation report was given by Amcham's CEO, Deborah Vieitas, in the presence of Luiz Otávio Pimentel, president of INPI. "The Amcham report points out the problem that the delay in industrial property examinations represents the biggest barrier to innovation and entrepreneurship for Brazil when we think about the value chain", commented Pimentel.
According to INPI estimates, if the current staff of 263 examiners is maintained, the waiting time should rise to 19.2 years. "We would need a total of 5,050 examiners to clear the blacklog (stock of unanalyzed trademarks and patents) in one year." In the United States, for example, there are 60 patent registrations per examiner, while the number is 1,096 applications for each INPI specialist.
According to the president of the agency, the delay in protecting intellectual property rights harms competitiveness and reduces the power to defend against piracy. "The Brazilian business community has increasingly understood intellectual property as a tool to sustain innovation. There is also the understanding of the Brazilian government that the cost of the solution is public investment".
The full report is available online, clicking here.
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