6. Mai 2022
The EPO and Peru’s National Institute
for the Defence of Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property
(INDECOPI) concluded a Reinforced Partnership agreement and a Memorandum of
Understanding on Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC). Both agreements were
signed by EPO President António Campinos and INDECOPI Executive President
Julián Fernando Palacín Gutiérrez.
This is the fifth Reinforced Partnership
that the EPO has completed within Latin America, following agreements with national
offices in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. INDECOPI also becomes the fifth
national office in Latin America to formally introduce the CPC, following agreements
between the EPO and intellectual property (IP) offices in Argentina, Brazil,
Chile and Mexico.
Since 2018, the EPO has signed eleven
Reinforced Partnership agreements in total, including with further national IP offices in Ethiopia, Malaysia,
Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa, as well as with the African Regional
Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO).
Co-operation objectives
Under their Reinforced Partnership, the
EPO and INDECOPI agree to ensure efficient patent examination and high patent quality.
The two Offices will co-operate on the training and tools as well as the technical
and legal support necessary to conduct substantive search and examination for
national first filings and to issue search reports and written opinions.
Accurate classification of patent
literature is essential for the optimal functioning of the global IP
community’s access to patent knowledge. Pursuant to their CPC agreement
therefore, the EPO and INDECOPI will co-operate on CPC training as well as technical
ICT-related support to assist with classification and, where relevant,
reclassification in the CPC. The two Offices also intend to co-operate on
quality regarding CPC classification work.
More broadly, the purpose of the
agreements is to help contribute to the continuous improvement of the global
patent system as well as to further foster innovation, competitiveness and
economic growth and development. This could in turn play a significant role in supporting
bilateral trade and investment between Europe and Peru.