The Peruvian people...busy busy busy

The Peruvian national Intellectual Property Office INDECOPI was quite busy the last week of November.

For a start the III National Convention on Patents and Inventions (CNAPI 2016) aimed at promoting patent culture throughout the country took place.

There was also the XV National Contest of Inventions run by INDECOPI. There were over 100 inventions competing from all over different regions. At the end, only one winner could take the prize and it went to the National University Toribio Rodríguez de Mendoza from the Amazon Region. The invention was in the Biotechnology and Medicine area. The second place was given to two independent inventors with a project in the Agricultural and Agribusiness area.

INDECOPI not only was focusing on patents but also extended its busy week to trade marks. It imparted training to over 170 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in how to protect their brands. It comprised among other issues the importance of registering trade marks; the legal aspects to be taken into account for the registration of a trade mark; and noting the various services that are provided by the Institute.

The relevance of this news goes in line with the fact that with experience from this blog you get to see and understand different jurisdictions -- and they do not lack on legislation and they are accomplishing all international conventions. However, it appears that sometimes society and culture are not playing the same rhythm and here is the problem.


This plan run by INDECOPI helps indeed to create awareness. Intellectual property is not only for a specific person or company; it is for everyone but we need to understand what it is. From the shoes we wear, the bus we take or the car we drive and the food we eat, everything is surrounded by ideas, creativity and hard work. This deserves protection, and by protection I am not talking about protecting so that nobody else will use it or I will earn money from it. Protection means in this sentence the right that the person has to stop some else from free –riding their work. This is a simple principle. But before asking for protection, you need to understand what can be protected and what the best suited form of IP (or other rights such as trade secrets, confidentiality agreements) are available for you to use.