On Thursday 29 February (at 9am GMT-6), we'll be hosting the first IP Key Labs of the year. This time, the theme will be "Brand trends: non-traditional brands and brands for goods and services in the metaverse".

We'll also be joined by speakers who are experts in the field:

In an important event for intellectual property (IP) in Latin America, experts and representatives from Chile and the European Union (EU) met to discuss the international protection of Geographical Indications (GIs). The seminar was held on 16 and 17 April in Santiago de Chile.

In an important step towards intellectual property (IP) protection, Latin America is about to sign an agreement with the European Union (EU) on Geographical Indications (GIs). Renowned EU products, such as Prosciutto di Parma and Irish whiskey, could gain recognition and protection, gaining economic advantages and generating confidence in those products for the benefit of producers. IP Key LA presented a three-day event to address critical aspects of the knowledge and implementation issues of this tool.

Talks about avoiding or escaping the middle-income trap are widespread around the world, not least in South-East Asia, where only two out of ten countries – Brunei and Singapore – are currently in the high-income bracket ([1]). It has become increasingly obvious that innovation is the key to escaping this trap. While technology transfer and direct foreign investment have brought much wealth to many economies in previous decades, this development pathway has its limits.

In January 2024, through its National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI), Brazil recognised two new geographical indications (GIs) that highlight the richness of its agricultural heritage. In Mandirituba – a municipality in the state of Paraná – dehydrated camomile obtained the first GI registration of 2024. This recognised indication of origin joins 110 other GIs across the country. Mandirituba is responsible for 30 % of Paraná’s camomile production, as well as driving innovation with broad applications in the food and cosmetics industries.

As of 2 February 2024, the Intellectual Property Office of Viet Nam (IP Viet Nam) has made its industrial designs data available to the DESIGNview search tool.

With IP Viet Nam on board of DESIGNview, the tool now contains data from 76 participating offices.

With the addition of more than 52.295 industrial designs from IP Viet Nam, DESIGNview now provides information and access to more than 21,2 million industrial designs in total.

As of 29 January 2024, the Registry of Intellectual Property of Guatemala (RPI-GT) is part of Design Class and will use and accept the list of terms from the harmonised database of product indications (HDBPI).

Following RPI-GT’s decision to use HDBPI, there are now 18 IP offices outside the European Union (EU) in DesignClass that use and accept the terms from this harmonised database. With this incorporation, the total number of participating IP offices increases to 44.

The National Institute for the Defence of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property (INDECOPI) granted the eleventh designation of origin (DO) for Peru: ‘Oregano from Tacna’. The certificate of registration ceremony highlighted the national pride that DOs can generate and the contribution they make to the economic reactivation of the region.

The South-East Asia IP SME Helpdesk, an initiative of the European Commission, supports SMEs in the European Union (EU) and the other countries of the Single Market Programme (SMP)* to both protect and enforce their Intellectual Property (IP) rights in or relating to South-East Asian countries, through the provision of free information and services.

IP Key LA and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) have unveiled the Annual Work Plan for 2024. This strategic plan seeks to strengthen collaboration in intellectual property (IP) between the European Union and Latin America.

Scheduled from 1 January to 31 December 2024, the Annual Work Plan (AWP3-2024) comprises 22 activities that strategically designed to impact key IPR areas.