Cooperation enhanced among BRICS nations

National IP administrations work together for economic recovery, innovation amid outbreak

The National Intellectual Property Administration is enhancing international cooperation to promote global innovation and economic recovery in the wake of the outbreak of COVID-19.

The pandemic poses huge challenges to global public health safety, economic development and innovation activities, NIPA Commissioner Shen Changyu said at a videoconference of leaders of IP offices in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa on Aug 26.

During the special period, the collaboration among the BRICS IP offices in response to the pandemic is of great significance, Shen said. "It shows the five offices' strong resolution and solemn commitment to providing users with high-quality services."

Each of the offices in the BRICS group has adopted efficient and effective measures to ensure their steady operations and services, which have won wide acclaim, he added.

While advancing the projects under the IP BRICS Cooperation Roadmap, which was signed in 2013 in Magaliesburg, South Africa, in an orderly and pragmatic way, they also need to further cooperation in digitalization in a bid to jointly respond to global challenges and provide support for IP rights owners and the public, Shen noted.

The attendants conducted exchanges on the measures taken to alleviate the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and the progress in granting patents to drugs that can be used to treat the novel coronavirus. They also discussed their application of digital technologies and cooperation prospects in this field.

The videoconference was chaired by Grigoriy Ivliev, head of Russia's Federal Service for Intellectual Property, also known as Rospatent.

Heads of Brazil's National Institute of Industrial Property, India's Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks, and South Africa's Companies and Intellectual Property Commission were among the attendees.

Since they began to join hands in 2012, the BRICS IP offices have cooperated and made substantial progress in such fields as increasing IP awareness, personnel training, exchanges among examiners, trademarks and industrial designs, according to NIPA.

Also on Aug 26, Shen delivered a keynote speech at another videoconference, part of Singapore's IP Week event last week.

NIPA has adopted a slew of measures to ensure the interests of applicants, support breakthroughs in research for the prevention and control of the pandemic, assist in resumption of business operations and production and increase international cooperation, he said.

The Chinese government put people and their safety first in response to the pandemic and has launched comprehensive and stringent prevention and control measures to curb the spread of the virus, he noted.

In the first half of 2020, filings for invention patents and trademarks both registered growth in China, which reflects the faith of innovators and market entities in the country's economic prospects, despite the impact of the pandemic, Shen said.

Government data show that invention patent applications with NIPA reached 683,000 during the first six months of 2020, 176,000 of them from domestic filers. Of the domestic filings, 96 percent or 169,000 were on-duty inventions.

And trademark filings during the same period surpassed 4.28 million in the country.

Facing the global public health crisis, NIPA will continue working with IP authorities in various countries and regions to enhance exchanges and cooperation, and increase communication and coordination to promote innovation and a recovery in business operation and economic growth, Shen said.