The 14th BRICS Heads of Intellectual Property Offices (HIPO) Meeting was held virtually by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) on 15 September 2022. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Shen Changyu, Commissioner of CNIPA. Mr. Claudio Furtado, President of Brazilian National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI); Mr. Yury Zubov, Head of Federal Service for Intellectual Property of Russia Federation (ROSPATENT); Prof.(Dr.) Unnat P. Pandit, Controller General of Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks of India (CGPDTM) and Mr. Rory Voller, Commissioner of Companies and Intellectual Property Commission of South Africa (CIPC) attended the meeting. 

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) delegation was invited to join the meeting as guests. Mr. Daren Tang, Director General of WIPO delivered a video speech during the opening session. Ms. Binying Wang, Deputy Director General of WIPO and Mr. Edward Kwakwa, Assistant Director General of WIPO joined the meeting.

Dr. Shen Changyu spoke highly of the fruitful cooperation results achieved by BRICS Intellectual Property (IP) offices, namely IP BRICS, over the past ten years. He said that the IP BRICS has become an important platform for BRICS countries to seek common development and address challenges in the field of IP. Representing the emerging markets in the international IP arena, the IP BRICS plays an significant and integral role in advancing international IP cooperation. Dr. Shen Changyu pointed out that it was clearly stated in the XIV BRICS Summit Beijing Declaration that the leaders of BRICS ‘support deepening IPR cooperation and promoting exchanges and mutual learning on IPR protection systems, and look forward to more practical outcomes in such fields as patents, trademark and industrial design’, which fully reflects the importance and expectation of BRICS countries to strengthen IP cooperation. At present, the global IP system and international cooperation are facing new opportunities and challenges. The CNIPA stands ready to enhance cooperation with BRICS partners to jointly grasp the opportunities and tackle the challenges, so as to promote innovation and achieve higher quality and more sustainable development. The CNIPA also expected that IP BRICS will continue to strengthen communication and cooperation with WIPO and inject more impetus into the global IP ecosystem.

The meeting promoted cooperation in the fields of patents, trademark and design, implementing the requirements of the XIV BRICS Summit Beijing Declaration. At the meeting, the Heads of BRICS IP offices jointly approved the update of the Operational Guideline Framework for IP BRICS Cooperation, providing clearer guidance for future cooperation among the BRICS IP offices. In the updated document, "Enhance the role of IP for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals" was added in the cooperation objectives. Aslo responses to digital and emerging technologies, protection of IP and administrative cooperation were incorporated into cooperation scope.Thus, the cooperation mechanism was further improved.

During the meeting, the Heads reviewed the progress and further plans of eight IP BRICS cooperation streams, endorsed the Final AI Study Report on Examination rules of BRICS IP Offices, the Catalogue of View and Drawing Requirements of Industrial Designs and the Comparison Manual on Trademark Application and Examination Procedures among other achievements. For the first time under IP BRICS framework, the BRICS partners and WIPO shared experiences and examples on how IP supports implementing UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It was agreed  that such exchanges help enhance the influence of the BRICS countries in global IP governance and should be further intensified.

(Source:China National Intellectual Property Administration )