ABPI and the BPTO discuss challenges faced by the Trademark Directorate
Recognition of secondary meaning, review of the weight of evidence of high renown, examination of position marks, registration of advertising expressions, accession to the Hague Agreement, implantation of artificial intelligence, improvement of systems, hiring of servers and possible legislative changes are some of the challenges to be faced by the new Trademark Directorate of the BPTO, discussed, on May 27th, at the meeting between ABPI and the new Trademark Director (DIRMA) of the BPTO (Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office), Felipe Augusto Melo de Oliveira. At the encounter, it was set up that these meetings shall take place every two months, the next one at the beginning of August, to develop a partnership between the BPTO and the private sector.
The Trademark Director’s new projects to increase the institutional productivity and optimize the examination of processes were reported at the meeting. Upon taking office, to improve efficiency and evaluate the quality-of-service provision, Melo de Oliveira and his team carried out a detailed survey of DIRMA’s numbers and procedures. One of the actions was the engagement of industry leaders who no longer have a sole management role, a measure which, among others, has already provided an increase of approximately 25% in productivity in the trademark sector. In the case of unopposed trademark applications, the goal is to reduce the period for examinations from the current 11 months to 8 or 9 months by December, keeping the examination of processes with opposition at 18 months.
Former president Luiz Edgard Montaury Pimenta, scientific coordinator Filipe Fonteles Cabral, and one of ABPI’s Trademarks Study Committee coordinators, Clarissa Jaegger, participated in the meeting representing ABPI.