BPTO’s Strategic Plan Headlines First Plenary Session of Congress

The detailed presentation of the BPTO’s (Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office) Strategic Plan up to 2026 is one of the highlights of the 44th International Congress on Intellectual Property of the ABPI, scheduled for August 12 and 13 in Porto de Galinhas, Pernambuco. The plan’s presentation, set for the afternoon of August 12 during the first plenary session, will include the office’s project portfolio and its goals in alignment with the National Intellectual Property Strategy (ENPI).

The BPTO’s plan comprises nine strategic objectives, including the goal to reduce the patent granting period to two years by 2026, a timeframe that currently averages three times longer. To achieve this, the office aims to meet performance standards comparable to major international patent offices. Other goals include promoting the culture and strategic use of Intellectual Property for Brazil’s development and positioning the country as a leader in the international Industrial Property system.

These are ambitious goals. However, to accomplish them, the BPTO primarily needs to ensure sustainable funding for modernizing and expanding its service capacity. One pathway to achieve this is the financial autonomy of the office, a long-standing advocacy of ABPI.

Public Competitions
According to ABPI President Gabriel Leonardos, one example of best practices that can only be achieved with the financial autonomy of the office is the constant holding of public competitions for staff, ensuring that the experience of senior employees is always passed on to newer ones. “The current system, where public competitions are scarce and irregular, contributes to the inconsistency of BPTO’s policies and decisions,” says Leonardos. “Similarly, the significant IT investments required but not made due to a lack of financial resources cause the continual breakdown of BPTO’s IT systems, resulting in problems for users and delays in the trademark and patent granting processes.”