Photo: Ricardo Matsukawa
“To those who are concerned about the financial autonomy of the BPTO, I ask you to support us, because we need to have this autonomy so that our budget is based on costs and investments”, said the president of the BPTO, Cláudio Furtado, during Plenary I “Present and Future of the BPTO and the National Intellectual Property Strategy (ENPI)”, on the first day of the Congress. During the plenary, which had the virtual participation of the Secretary of Innovation and Micro and Small Enterprises of the Ministry of Economy, Bruno Portela, moderated by the president of ABPI, Gabriel Leonardos, Furtado clarified that from the R$ 88 million budget of the institute, at least R$ 52 million have already been authorized by the Ministry of Economy. “We have filed an additional request for R$36 million in new investments, which by August 31 may be submitted for approval by the Brazilian National Congress,” he said. “In order to operate efficiently, we cannot go through the year with the surprise that we will have a budget cut, as happened last year”.
The additional resources, according to Furtado, will be used for new investments by the BPTO, most of them allocated to IT (information technology). The main program, driven by the ABPI, is included in the institute’s Action Plan for 2022 and is a new solution for decision-making in the filing of patent applications. “The project identifies 14 different BPTO systems and the progress of these requests at each stage until the final technical decision”, explained the president of the BPTO. According to him, the program was developed by the BPTO in partnership with the Ministry of Economy and will come into operation in early 2024.
In his presentation, Furtado emphasized that the BPTO actively participates in the Brazilian National Intellectual Property Strategy (ENPI), alongside other entities that make up the GIPI (Interministerial Intellectual Property Group), also joined by ABPI. “We are working to strengthen IP governance, organizing legal frameworks and supporting the Ministry of Justice in the fight against piracy and counterfeiting,” he stated.
Among other actions of the BPTO’s Action Plan for this year 2022, mentioned by its president, are the program developed with the Danish embassy in the field of business research in agriculture, life sciences, and clean energy. He also announced the tender, next September, to restructure the unit of the institute in São Paulo, “which will work as an important pillar of innovation”, and a partnership with Sebrae ¾ Supporting Service for Micro and Small Companies ¾ in the area of Geographical Indications and the stimulation of Small and Medium Enterprises.
