ip practice in latin america brazil trip august 2012

American Intellectual Property Law Association
IP Practice in Latin America Committee
Trip to Brazil- August 26-31, 2012
Delegation to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro
Brazil
IP PRACTICE IN
LATIN AMERICA
BRAZIL
TRIP
AUGUST 2012
1
São Paulo – August 26 to 28
The AIPLA delegation arrived in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, on August 26 th, in order to
attend to the ABPI (Brazilian Association of Intellectual Property – ABPI) annual meeting at
the Sheraton São Paulo WTC hotel.
The official delegation had the following participants:
Bill Barber - President of the AIPLA
Q. Todd Dickinson - Executive Director of AIPLA
J. Michael Martinez de Andino - Member of AIPLA’s Board of Directors and
Board liaison to the IP Practice in LAC
James A. Larson – Former Chair of IP Practice in LAC
Ignacio Manuel Sanches Echagüe – Responsible for the IP Practice in LAC
Subcommittee for South America
Joaquim Eugenio Goulart – Vice-chair of IP Practice in LAC.
It is important to mention also the intense collaboration of Mr. Eduardo Camara, responsible
of micro-web site of the IP Practice in LAC.
During the first 3 days, the delegation attended to the ABPI annual meeting, which this year
had around 800 attendees from all over Latin America.
On August 27th, the delegation had the opportunity to meet with Mr. Jorge Ávila, President
of the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office – INPI. During this meeting, Mr. Ávila explained
the plans of the Office to reduce the huge backlog on both patents and trademarks filings.
On August 28th, Mr. Dickinson was one of the speakers at a panel about “Strategic
Development of the Patent Portfolio”. At the same date, Mr. Barber was a speaker at the
final Plenary Session about “The Limits of Trademark Registrability: Acquired Distinctiveness,
Branding and Corporate Agreements”.
On August 28th, the delegation had a dinner with members of São Paulo Intellectual Property
Law Association (ASPI), specifically with Mr. Alexandre Fragoso (Director of ASPI), Mr. Clovis
Silveira (Representative of the Board), Mr. Henrique Steuer de Mello (1st Vice-Chair), Mr.
Marcello Nascimento (2nd Vice-Chair) and Mrs. Soraya Imbassahy de Mello (Treasurer).
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Mr. Dickinson speaking in the Panel of ABPI.
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Mr. Barber speaking in the Plenary Session of ABPI
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The meeting with Mr.
Jorge Ávila, President of
INPI.
Mr. Jorge Ávila and
Mr. Bill Barber.
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Rio de Janeiro – August 29 to 31
On August 29th, the delegation flew from São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro. On the same day, the
delegation had the chance to visit the offices of INPI. The visit was hosted by Mrs. Denise
Nogueira Gregory, Director of INPI, Mrs. Adriana Deorsola, Coordinator of IP Global Issues
and Mrs. Silvia Rodrigues Freitas, General Coordinator of Trademarks.
During the visit, the INPI members demonstrated the developments on the Regional
Cooperation System on Industrial Property – PROSUR. The main goal of PROSUR is to
facilitate technological information access to the users, as well as to offer to the examiners
in different National IP Offices an operational environment with modern IT tools, in order to
boost the cooperation between examiners and officers.
The PROSUR initiative encompasses 9 countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador,
Paraguay, Peru, Surinam and Uruguay. According to INPI, when implemented, PROSUR will
expedite the examination proceeding, thereby reducing the huge patent application
prosecution
backlog
(for
more
details
about
PROSUR
–
see
http://www.ipbrief.net/2012/07/28/the-prosur-approach-to-patents-shared-informationindependent-decisions/).
The INPI members also informed the delegation about the authorization from the Brazilian
Government to hire, in the end of 2012, more patent and trademark examiners.
On August 30th, the delegation visited the Federal Court of Appeals of Rio de Janeiro.
During the visit, besides a quick tour at the premises of the court, the delegation had the
opportunity to watch a judgment session of the 2nd Panel Specialized in IP. The chief Justice
of said Panel, Hon. Liliane Roriz, greeted the delegation in English and quickly explained how
the appeals are decided at the Federal Court of Rio de Janeiro.
The visit of AIPLA delegation to the Federal Court of Appeals was mentioned in a well-known
local newspaper “Jornal do Commercio” (seebelow).
On August 31st, the delegation visited Dannemann Siemsen´s office in Rio de Janiero, where
Mr. Dickinson gave a presentation about the AIA to a group of Brazilian IP attorneys,
including members of the American Chamber of Commerce, with a videoconference
connection with the firm’s São Paulo office. Mr. Albert Keyack, attaché of the USPTO for
Brazil, also attended the presentation and the lunch afterwards.
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The delegation at the INPI premises.
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The delegation at the Federal Court of Appeals.
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JORNAL DO COMMERCIO, p.B6 - Direito & Justiça 31/08/2012 (bottom left column)
9
English Translation of the “Jornal do Commercio”
American Lawyers visit the Federal Superior Court of the 2nd Region
Members of The American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) visited
the Federal Court of Rio de Janeiro (2nd Region) on Thursday (August 30),
accompanied by the Brazilian lawyer Mr. Joaquim Eugenio Goulart. The group
was lead by Mr. Todd Dickinson, the Association’s Executive Director and four
other lawyers. They have been able to visit this Court’s premises and to attend a
judgment session conducted by the justices of the 2nd Panel of the Specialized
Court.
AIPLA is an association constituted of lawyers involved in the practice of patent,
trademark, copyright, trade secret and unfair competition law. The 2nd Panel of
the Federal Circuit is recognized nationwide for handling IP matters involving
the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (INPI), whose headquarters is in Rio
de Janeiro. The Federal Court of the 2nd Region is the only one that counts with
members specialized in IPmatters .
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Mr. Dickinson presentation about AIA at Dannemann
Siemsen’s Rio de Janiero office.
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Final lunch at the Porcão Restaurant in Rio de Janiero.
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Farewell picture of the delegation, with Mr. Luiz Henrique Amaral,
President of ABPI, Mr. Peter Dirk Siemsen, Senior Partner of
Dannemann, Siemsen and Mr. Albert Keyack, USPTO representative
in Brazil.
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Visit to Sugar Loaf
Mountain in Rio de
Janeiro.
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