UK and Brazil set to continue bilateral co-operation on intellectual property

In a joint statement delivered to the fourth meeting of the UK-Brazil Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) on 16 September, Ian Fletcher, CEO of the Intellectual Property Office, outlined the achievements under the current work plan between the two countries.

There has been progress in the following areas:

• patent and trade mark examiner training;
• quality control;
• shared views and experiences of the UK’s legal and IT systems;
• and a shared common analysis of the challenges facing the global IP system.

New areas of cooperation over the next year will include:

• further patent examiner training;
• exchanges of staff in the field of green technologies;
• and exploring model agreements for managing IP in international collaborative R&D projects.

Jorge de Paula Costa Avila, President of the Brazilian National Institute of Industrial Property, welcomed the continuing collaboration between our respective IP offices and agreed that we have a shared interest in a global system which works. He said that we must explore new ways of working if we are to help our countries innovate and grow.

Date of release: 21 September 2009