The Kellis IP Weekly: Issue 12.2
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Issue 12.2
EU-Mercosur Agreement (Again): Twenty-five years after negotiations commenced, and five years after completion of those negotiations was first announced, all chapters of the EU-Mercosur Agreement have now been finalized. The agreement's text still needs to be cleaned up, after which France and Poland will try to block ratification by EU member states and the European parliament.
Copyright in focus: MDIC announced that when resumptions over the agreement recommenced in 2023, Brazil used the opportunity to add additional provisions regarding copyright to the document. While those provisions were not specifically identified, the IP chapter of the agreement contains extensive provisions regarding copyright, including:
the explicit recognition of a making available right for authors, performers, and producers of phonograms;
exclusive rights for broadcasting organizations;
a remuneration right specifying that performers and producers of phonograms are entitled to be paid by the users of commercially published phonograms or copies thereof communicated to the public;
extensive provisions regarding the term of copyright protection;
assurance of an inalienable resale right for an author of graphic or plastic art to receive a percentage of any future transaction price involving the author’s work, beyond the first sale; and
a requirement that each part provide adequate legal protection and effective legal remedies against the circumvention of effective technological protection measures.
Other IP notes: Brazil celebrated that the IP chapter does not required patent term adjustment/extension or regulatory data protection. In better news, the IP chapter may usher in strengthened trade secret protection and IP enforcement efforts, in light of provisions addressing both of those issues.
Read more: https://www.ft.com/content/e4e514f4-dea6-43a5-aeb3-83956b563169; https://www.cnnbrasil.com.br/economia/macroeconomia/leia-na-integra-o-comunicado-do-acordo-de-livre-comercio-entre-mercosul-e-ue/; https://www.gov.br/agricultura/pt-br/assuntos/noticias/ministro-favaro-destaca-a-importancia-do-acordo-mercosul-ue-para-a-agropecuaria-brasileira; https://www.gov.br/mdic/pt-br/assuntos/noticias/2024/dezembro/acordo-de-parceria-mercosul-uniao-europeia; https://www.gov.br/siscomex/pt-br/acordos-comerciais/arquivos/PropriedadeIntelectual.pdf (this is the IP chapter text itself)
Global PPH regulations: INPI published the regulations that will govern its first year as a member of the Global PPH, which will take effect on Jan. 1.
Key changes: Under the new regulations, there is a huge incrase in the number of applications that will be accepted annually, from 800 to 3,200. Additionally, up to 1,000 applications with the same international patent classification may use the program (a tenfold increase), and the previous limit of one PPH application per applicant per week has been discontinued. Additionally, INPI will accept PPH requests for patent applications whose priority is not from a PPH partner office, and will accept any technical examination result from a partner office (whether as a national, regional, or international authority) showing patentable subject matter.
Read more: https://www.gov.br/inpi/pt-br/central-de-conteudo/noticias/fase-v-do-projeto-piloto-pph-entrara-em-vigor-em-01-01-2025; https://www.gov.br/inpi/pt-br/central-de-conteudo/noticias/fase-v-do-projeto-piloto-pph-entrara-em-vigor-em-01-01-2025/PortariaINPI48_2024.pdf; https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=d42a5a9b-8bd5-4cdf-8df8-e9f1ecbeea28
AI Bill Passes Senate: The bill now goes to the Chamber of Deputies for consideration.
Ministry of Culture celebrates: MinC believes the bill is essential to protect copyrighted works, and the MinC’s Copyright Secretariat is pleased with the copyright provisions in the bill, which it noted were the result of intense efforts by its team.
Read more: https://www12.senado.leg.br/noticias/materias/2024/12/10/senado-aprova-regulamentacao-da-inteligencia-artificial-texto-vai-a-camara; https://www.jota.info/legislativo/senado-aprova-regulamentacao-de-inteligencia-artificial-pl-segue-para-a-camara; https://www.gov.br/cultura/pt-br/assuntos/noticias/direitos-autorais-remuneracao-e-inteligencia-artificial; https://www.gov.br/cultura/pt-br/assuntos/noticias/comissao-do-senado-aprova-regulamentacao-da-inteligencia-artificial-no-pais.
In brief:
INPI hosted a Regional Workshop on Crimes against Intellectual Property with participants from 11 jurisdictions, noting that piracy cost the Brazilian government R$500 billion in lost revenue in 2024. https://www.gov.br/inpi/pt-br/central-de-conteudo/noticias/inpi-sedia-oficina-regional-sobre-delitos-contra-a-propriedade-intelectual
INPI published its November statistics (numbers in parentheses are INPI goals for each statistic): Average patent pendency from filing: 4.3 (4.5) years. Average patent pendency from request for examination: 3.1 (3.5) years. Average patent pendency for accelerated examination programs: 10.2 (9) months. Average trademark pendency, no opposition: 17.4 (18) months. Average trademark pendency, with opposition: 25.7 (27) months. https://www.gov.br/inpi/pt-br/governanca/planejamento-estrategico/central-de-monitoramento
A key priority for Ministry of Culture's audiovisual secretariat is regulation of streaming platforms, with the goals of ensuring that Brazilian content reaches the population, generating employment and income, and strengthening Brazil's cultural identity. https://www.gov.br/cultura/pt-br/assuntos/noticias/minc-participa-da-4a-conferencia-audiovisual-na-57a-edicao-do-festival-de-brasilia-do-cinema-brasileiro
ANCINE and the Ministry of Culture are preparing 2025 screen quota regulations. https://www.gov.br/cultura/pt-br/assuntos/noticias/regulamentacao-da-cota-de-tela-2025-em-curso
Receita Federal allocated 30,000 seized IPTV boxes for transformation into computers by students. https://www.gov.br/receitafederal/pt-br/assuntos/noticias/2024/dezembro/receita-federal-em-brasilia-destina-30-mil-aparelhos-de-tv-box-para-serem-transformados-em-minicomputadores
ABIFINA hosted the 15th International Seminar on Patents, Innovation and Development, at which:
INPI President Júlio César Moreira stated that INPI will collect R$400 million in 2024, but is not able to keep or spend that money even though just 10% would solve INPI's financial problems.
Panelists discussed INPI's proposal to eliminate requests for examination, and instead implement a request for delay for those applicants who do not wish to begin examination immediately.
https://abifina.org.br/acontece-na-abifina/sipid-debate-cenario-mundial-das-politicas-industriais/
UPCOMING IP EVENTS
*January 22-24, 2025: World Intellectual Property Forum. Dubai. https://www.worldipforum.com/ (English).
*January 27-28, 2025: International Intellectual Property Lawyers Association Conference. Dubai. https://iipla.org/events/dubai/ (English).
March 17-19, 2025: XXIV ASPI Intellectual Property Congress. Sao Paulo, Brazil. https://congresso.aspi.org.br/ (Portuguese).
March 20-23, 2025: XX ABAPISUL Regional Meeting. Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. https://abapi2.org.br/ (Portuguese).
* Indicates events at which I will be speaking.
^ Indicates events I will be attending.
QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS
Kellis IP is available to provide consulting services to help you understand and respond to any of the developments highlighted in this newsletter, or any other IP issues in Brazil and the surrounding region.
