IP indicators on the rise

By PPO Abogados

6,548 trademarks and patents were granted in Bolivia in 2021, according to a report from Bolivia’s National Intellectual Property Office (Senapi). The figure represents a 44 percent growth compared to 2020, when 4,543 titles were granted.

The Executive General Director of Senapi, Gregorio Mamani Quispe, highlighted recent international agreements as the main reasons for the increase.

In April 2021, the Andean Community approved the Common Andean Regime for the protection of the CAN members trademarks between its members -Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru- making the CAN the first bloc of nations to take decisions of this type to protect the distinctive marks of its member states.

A Country Brand is a sign adopted by a State within a framework of policies and strategies aimed at disseminating and promoting the country's identity through tourism, exports and investments, becoming over time a State emblem and a distinctive sign of it. The CAN’s decision on the common regime for the Country Brand had been in the works for more than four years. It sought mainly for the Country Brand to be recognized by the other States, and also for it to be protected indefinitely, as it is set in the agreement.

In October 2021 Senapi signed a bilateral agreement with the National Institute for the Defense of Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property (Indecopi) of Peru, which looks to promote all works related to intellectual property between both countries inventors and creators.

Mamani Quispe also pointed up new technologies regarding the use of electronic elements in Senapi’s systems and regulations -such as the new Regulation of Electronic Notifications- and Senapi’s joint IBNORCA-AFNOR certification, the only representative in Bolivia of the International Organization for Standardization ISO, which evaluates the management system of an organization, verifying that it meets the requirements of a technical standard.