The world’s largest economies, for every US$100 billion of value generated, as measured by GDP1, domestic firms protect an average of 1,000 patents and 8,000 trademarks, Figure 1. In Brazil, the perceived value generated for firms through these intangible assets leads to above-average attention to trademark protection, with almost 11,000 kinds of trademarks registered for every US$100 billion of GDP. However, protection of domestic firms’ technologies through patents is well below average, with only 148 patent applications per USD 100 billion. Japan and the US also show an imbalance, but in the opposite direction, with companies more concerned with protecting their technology differentials through patents than their brands.
The behavior of domestic companies is changing. The country’s historical difficulties in structuring a legal framework, ICT infrastructures, financing2 instruments, and government institutions that encourage research and development activity are being overcome, albeit gradually, making it possible to diversify the high risks involved in developing leading-edge technologies. Proof of this is that the country will move from 62nd to 54th place in the Global Innovation Index3 between 2020 and 2022. On the road to capturing all the value generated by this change, companies must better understand and use the international intellectual property protection system. Read more