Brasilia • 22 - 23 June 2022
The recent Article 40 Supreme Court decision in Brazil has removed an important safeguard against unreasonable patent examination delays, weakening an already challenging IP environment.
In collaboration with local think tank partner, Centro Mackenzie de Liberdade Econômica, Geneva Network organised a series of activities in Brasilia to highlight to policymakers potential reform options to address this issue – including Patent Term Adjustment and greater use of work sharing agreements.
Ministry of Economy
Prof Mark Schultz (Geneva Network senior fellow), Prof Vladimir Maciel (Head, Centro Mackenzie) and Allan Antonio (Senior Analyst, Centro Mackenzie) met with the leaders of the Brazilian government’s national IP policy team to share perspectives. They also later met with staff from the Office of the President.
Roundtable
40 of Brasilia’s top IP stakeholders from government, industry and academia gathered for a joint Geneva Network / Centro Mackenzie de Liberdade Econômica roundtable focusing on reforming the patent system following the Article 40 decision.
Speakers included Christian Lohbauer (CEO CropLife Brasil), Miguel Campo Dall Orto Emery de Carvalho (General Coordinator for 4.0 Economics and Intellectual Property at the Ministry of Economy) Marcos César de Oliveira Pinto (Director of Innovative Entrepreneurship at the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation) and Prof Mark Schultz (Geneva Network).
This new Geneva Network briefing paper makes the case for legislative reforms including Patent Term Adjustment. It also presents new data showing the examination backlog for technologies including pharmaceuticals is still causing significant damage to patent life.
