The National Institute of Industrial Property of Brazil (INPI), the Federal Service for Intellectual Property of Russia Federation (ROSPATENT), the Office of the Controller-General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks of India(CGPDTM), the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China (CNIPA), and the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission of South Africa(CIPC) (hereinafter referred to as "BRICS IPOs") gathered in Chengdu, China on 26-27 March 2018 for its 10th BRICS Heads of Intellectual Property Offices (HIPO) meeting and BRICS Intellectual Property Conference.
During the 10th HIPO meeting, the Heads of BRICS IPOs jointly reviewed the sustained progress made within last six years through BRICS IP cooperation, and explored ways to further strengthen IP cooperation among BRICS countries. Recognizing the vital role of intellectual property in boosting technological innovation and economic development in emerging economies, the BRICS HIPO signed a Joint Statement on Strengthening Intellectual Property cooperation. Underlining the pragmatic achievements had been made, the BRICS IPOs agreed in their statement to strive for reaching the cooperation objectives including:
Promote IP development in BRICS countries;
Provide better services to BRICS IP users and the public;
Enhance the voice and representativeness of BRICS countries in the development of global IP system.
Against these objectives, potential cooperation in the areas of IP laws, regulations and policies, services to the public and IP users, public IP awareness, education in the IP field, IP information, coordination at international IP Fora, and further building of BRICS cooperation mechanism were identified for future cooperation.
Based on the successful cooperation and gained practical experience in development of joint projects by BRICS IPOs, the Operational Guideline Framework for IP BRICS were also adopted during the meeting to encourage future cooperation activities.
On 27 March, nearly 100 representatives from BRICS IPOs, WIPO, embassies of BRICS countries and IP agencies, and industrial enterprises attended the BRICS Intellectual Property Conference. With the aim of enhancing the openness and transparency of the BRICS cooperation, the IP BRICS website was officially launched for public access during the conference. Acknowledging the importance and benefits of stakeholders’ feedback, the BRICS IPO also exchanged views with delegates from Industry and IP agencies on the topic of ‘Intellectual Property Promotes Innovation and Development in BRICS countries’. At the end of the conference, the role of the Chair and the Secretariat of the BRICS IP Offices was passed to the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) of South Africa.
