News from the IBEPI

In 2001, the 21st Latin American Summit of Heads of State and Prime Ministers approved the Latin American Programme on Industrial Property and the Promotion of Development (IBEPI), thus institutionalising the international cooperation among Latin American countries that had been taking place for decades under the auspices of the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (SPTO). One year later, at the 22nd Latin American Summit held in Cadiz, the Working Programme and Regulations of IBEPI were approved.

The Working Programme covers a number of activities and training projects aiming to promote Industrial Property in Latin America, with three main components:

• Component I. Latin American Platform, CIBEPYME, offering Industrial Property services to the production sector, especially to SMEs.
• Component 2. Horizontal cooperation among industrial property offices in order to strengthen their capabilities and reduce asymmetries.
• Component 3. Internal platform among member countries to facilitate the sharing of experiences and good practices among offices, and to promote better use of available resources.

Main achievements of the Programme:

• Maintenance of the CIBEPYME platform. This contains information and updated training on Industrial Property, especially for SMEs in the region.
• Creation of a Technological Information Committee to establish mechanisms for cooperation among Offices for the dissemination and provision of Technological Information Services. This Committee met in Salinas, Ecuador, in July 2014 and agreed on the following points, amongst others:
• To set up a system  for cooperation in the provision of services among offices
• To adopt a human resources training programme
• To develop a joint programme for adopting technical resources
• To draw up Latin American Technological Information Bulletins. The members agreed to start drawing up a joint Agrifood Bulletin, this being a technology sector with a wide range of products in the countries of the region. The bulletins are published in Spanish and Portuguese, thus promoting the use of these languages in the area of technology.  
• A new IBEPI platform is also being set up to offer detailed information on the Programme, its components and partners, technical committees and training courses in the region.

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