New boost to creation of technology patents in Peru

CAF—development bank of Latin America—will support Peru’s Ministry of Production, National Council for Science, Technology and Technological Innovation (Concytec) and National Institute for the Defense of Competition and Intellectual Property Protection (Indecopi), to promote the creation of patents in the development of innovative technologies that help solve national and international problems, but which also boost productivity and economic growth of the country.

Through this inter-institutional agreement, the parties will jointly define potential plans, projects, financing programs and activities aimed at improving innovation indicators such as applications and granting of patents in national and international markets, increasing the royalties and financial resources from licensing or transfer of patents; as well as increasing high-tech exports from Peru to other regions of the world.

The Minister of Production, Raúl Pérez-Reyes, highlighted the importance of the Agreement, and pointed out that patents and industrial designs provide exclusive marketing potential for innovation, and are instruments of intellectual property protection that improve opportunities for profits and counter the effects of potential copies of products made by large, medium and small companies seeking to become more productive and competitive worldwide.

“At the Ministry of Production we are promoting an innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem to raise productivity and competitiveness of companies in the nation. A Peruvian company that holds one or more patents or industrial designs will be more likely to increase its profits by claiming a larger share of the market, raising the interest of potential investors, even on an international scale, in order to attract funds, enter into licensing commercial relations and develop strategies that enable patenting in countries that are part of the target markets of its innovations,” he added.

The executive president of CAF, Luis Carranza Ugarte, explained that patents are essential tools for the protection of industrial property rights and growth of economies. In that connection, Peru faces great challenges because, as of 2017, the countries with most international patent applications via the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) were: United States (56,673 applications), China (48,908), Japan (48,222), Germany (18,949), and South Korea (15,752). Meanwhile, the best ranked Latin American countries are: Brazil (589 applications), Mexico (270), Chile (167) and Colombia (143). Peru filed 33 applications.

“Latin American countries should aspire to become more innovative, more productive, more competitive and take the leap to close the technological gap between us and industrialized countries, which boast higher rates of economic growth and better quality of life of their people, among other aspects, thanks to their leadership in technological innovation,” said Carranza Ugarte.

In addition, the President of Concytec, Fabiola León-Velarde, noted that—according to the Global Innovation Index 2017—United States ranks 6th and Chile 63rd in patent registration, while Peru is currently 97th in the list. She also explained that Peruvian exports in technology goods and services reached US$195 million, which accounts for 0.62% of the US$31.2 billion of total exports in 2015; compared to US$126 billion in high-tech products exported by South Korea, i.e. 23% of the US$538 billion of total exports, even though both countries were in similar conditions 60 years ago.

“However, we are working to reverse this outlook. In this connection, we are working on the Executive Competitiveness Groups and the National Competitiveness Plan, which we will develop based on multiple sectors. We are already on the right path, but only with high-quality research and tackling the challenges of the productive sector will it be possible to increase the number of international patents and tip the high-tech trade balance in our favor. We must look to our country, but also to the world, which demands innovative products. We must strive for Peruvian inventions, products and patents to become a goal for the State, academia and the business sector, he emphasized.

Furthermore, the Chairperson of the Executive Council of Indecopi, Ivo Gagliuffi, said that between 2012-2016 his institution processed only 98 patents per year; but in 2017, 355 national applications were received, from which 14% were filed by Peruvian companies, while the rest was filed by Peruvian independent inventors (65%) and local universities/think tanks (21%).

“One of the tools to encourage better results is to boost the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), of which Peru became a member country nine years ago. Peru also has patent acceleration agreements with Spain, the Pacific Alliance and Japan. In fact, this year a Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) is under negotiation with the United States,” he added.

Challenges

With a view to closing the gap with more advanced economies, CAF created in 2013 the Regional Initiative of Technology Patents for Development, in order to promote training, foster the creative potential of Latin American countries, boost patentable technology innovation, help increase high-tech exports in our region and make inroads into international markets.

The Regional Initiative of Technology Patents for Development has already made significant headway in technology innovation for Latin America. Between 2016 and 2018, CAF organized a total of 22 intensive workshops in eight countries in the region (Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay and Peru), training 900 people and generating almost 1,000 patentable technological concepts.