Shira Perlmutter of the United States Patent Office posted a news article regarding the recent signing of a Joint Statement on Patent Work Sharing between Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and Brazilian Minister of Development, Industry & Foreign Trade (MDIC) Armando Monteiro.
The Joint Statement declares:
The patent offices of the two Governments intend to commence cooperative activities, on or after the date of signature of this Joint Statement, including the implementation of a mutually beneficial work-sharing pilot program that facilitates the examination of patent applications that are commonly filed in the United States and Brazil.
This is exciting news for both the private sector and both countries’ patent offices. Work-sharing has numerous benefits for both parties, including:
- Reduces cost of obtaining patent protection
- Helps facilitate the patent process
- Reduces the backload of patent applications by increasing efficiency
- Boost economic growth of both countries through reduced costs and wait times in the patent process.
The Joint Statement was praised in a recent Joint Communique between President Barack Obama and President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil. Both of these actions seem to point towards improved and strengthened economic relations between the United States and Brazil. We look forward to seeing these plans come into fruition.
President Barack Obama and President Dilma Rousseff during her working visit to the United States June 29-30, 2015