ABPI, along with nine other entities in the innovation sector, signed an open letter supporting the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BPTO) and against the institute’s budget reduction. The document was addressed to representatives of the Ministry of Economy and the National Congress and asks for the review of the cut in resources.
According to a letter from Cláudio Vilar Furtado, the BPTO president, the 2022 budget of the BPTO, initially estimated to be R$ 70 million, was reduced by almost half, an insufficient amount to maintain the activities performed by the institute.
For the signatory entities of the open letter, the cut in resources may compromise the advances made in recent years, such as those related to the plans to fight against the backlog adopted by the BPTO, which reduced the time in the patent application processes and decreased the volume of pending analysis requests by 78% until January this year. There was also an important modernization and digitalization of the systems that allowed the BPTO to maintain activities remotely during the pandemic.
Added to this is the fact that the BPTO’s efficient performance is fundamental for the National Intellectual Property Strategy. According to the letter, “such a strategy, designed by the Executive Power, sets the goal of achieving an effective and balanced Intellectual Property National System.” The entities also point out that the “BPTO already suffers from a lack of financial and budgetary autonomy and, therefore, this cut would further aggravate institutional precariousness.” Therefore, the reduction in the budget is “unjustifiable and incompatible with the plans drawn up by the Brazilian State in the quest to increase the development of the Brazilian innovative sector.”
Furthermore, the letter supports the BPTO’s request for a public tender to hire 217 industrial property analysts. “There is wide recognition among different instances of the Brazilian State that the BPTO operates with a lag in terms of its staff (currently 52% occupancy). In the document, the entities claim that “without resources (human and/or financial), the institute cannot be expected to continue to perform its duties with efficiency and celerity” and warn that the cut could “damage the efficiency of the Brazilian State and directly harm the inventive Brazilian sector, with impacts to economic development and the whole society.”
The letter is signed by ABPI, ABIMED – Brazilian High Technology Health Products Industry Association, Brazil US Business Council, AMCHAM Brazil, Croplife Brazil, FarmaBrasil Group — Association of National Capital Pharmaceutical Industries, ICC Brazil — International Chamber of Commerce, Interfarma – Pharmaceutical Research Industry Association, PróGenéricos – Brazilian Association of Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Industries and Sindusfarma – Pharmaceutical Products Industry Union.
