Although Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) represent 99% of all Brazilian companies, they account for 30% of GDP and employ 50% of the country’s labor force, they are responsible for only 48% of brands and 11% of patents deposited with the INPI (National Institute of Industrial Property). The theme, in celebration of World Intellectual Property Day, was addressed this Monday, 26th, in a round table promoted by ABPI, INPI, WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization, in the acronym in English) and the Ministries of Economy and Tourism. “Due to the important role they play in the economy, it is essential that small and medium-sized companies and startups understand that intellectual property assets are essential assets for their business and a strong attraction for investments”, said, at the opening of the event, the president ABPI, Luiz Edgard Montaury Pimenta.
Under the theme “PI and PME: Bring your ideas to the market”, the PI event in honor of Small and Medium Enterprises (PME) presented two cases of entrepreneurship, led by entrepreneurs Xisto Alves de Souza Júnior, from Jetbov, and Beatriz Dockhorn, from Bia Brazil, under the moderation of ABPI director and advisor, Antonella Carminatti. The opening table was attended by, besides Montaury Pimenta, Cláudio Furtado, from INPI; Daren Tang, from WIPO; Felipe Carmona Cantera, from Sindapi; Luiz Henrique do Amaral, from AIPPI; Elizabeth Siemsen do Amaral, from ASIPI; Renaud Gaillard, from the INPI of France; José Graça Aranha, from WIPO Brazil; Álvaro Loureiro, from ABAPI; Marcelo Nascimento, from ASPI; Fabiano Barreto, from CNI; Bruno Quick, from Sebrae; Terkel Borg, from the Danish Embassy; Kenji Naemura, from J.P.O .; Maria Angelica Garcia, from U.K.I.P.O .; and David Kenis, from the U.S.P.T.O.
Jetbov, listed by Exame Magazine as the “top of mind” of Brazilian livestock, uses information technology and data storage as management tools for beef cattle. Vaccines, livestock management, weighing, in addition to the financial control of the system, are some of the tasks performed by the application. In 2016, explains Souza Júnior, the company sought legal advice to register the brand and was even notified by Red Bull because the Jetbov logo suggested a similarity with that of the multinational. Jetbov changed the logo, registered the new brand and opted for protection as an industrial secret. “Now, we are already thinking about registering the brand in the countries to which we export, Portugal, Angola, Mozambique, Bolivia and Paraguay”, says Xisto Souza Júnior.
The concern with the brand has always been on the radar of the gaucho Beatriz Dockhorn. Founded in 1994, in the city of Porto Alegre, in Rio Grande do Sul, manufacturing and selling women’s sportswear, Bia Brazil was the first Brazilian clothing micro-company to export. The international experience started early and so did the problems with the business’s intellectual property. “Some representatives abroad, such as in Mexico, ended up appropriating the company’s brand and Beatriz had to pay to rescue it. Today Bia Brazil exports to 94 countries and has a registered trademark in the countries of the European common market, Mexico, Chile, Lebanon and Finland. “Where we enter with the highest sales volume, we register the brand”, says Beatriz Hockhorn. “Brand protection is oxygen”.
See the full video of the event on the ABPI channel on YoTube.
