The 14th BRICS Heads of Intellectual Property Offices Meeting, hosted by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), was held online on September 15. CNIPA Commissioner Shen Changyu anchored the annual gathering that was attended by Cláudio Vilar Furtado, President of the National Institute of Intellectual Property (INPI) of Brazil, Yuri Zubov, Head of the Federal Service for Intellectual Property (Rospatent) of Russia, Unnat P Pandit, Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks, GI (CGPDTM-India), and Rory Voller, Commissioner of the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) of South Africa. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Director General Daren Tang conveyed his regards to the event via video while WIPO Deputy Director General Wang Binying and Assistant Director General Edward Kwakwa attended the meeting as special guests.

In his opening remarks, Shen praised the results achieved since the start of the BRICS IPR Cooperation. He said in the past 10 years since its establishment, the cooperation initiative has become an important platform for the BRICS members to seek mutually-beneficial development and tackle challenges in the IPR field, adding that it has become a key body representing emerging countries on the international IPR stage, and an important force bolstering international IPR cooperation. Shen quoted the 14th BRICS Summit Beijing Declaration."We support deepening IPR cooperation and promoting exchanges and mutual learning on IPR protection system, and look forward to more practical outcomes in such fields as patent, trademark, and industrial design." The text reflects the BRICS leaders' attention to and expectation of enhancing IP cooperation. The global IPR system and international cooperation offer both new opportunities and challenges. China is looking forward to deepening cooperation among the BRICS offices, taking opportunities together, facing challenges together to better promote innovation and achieve higher quality and more sustainable development. In the meantime, China is also expecting the BRICS offices to further enhance communication and cooperation with the WIPO and contribute the BRICS power to the construction of the global IP ecological system.

The meeting is fully implementing the requirements of the Beijing Declaration and advancing cooperation in patent, trademark and industrial design. The heads of the BRICS offices approved the updated Operational Guideline Framework for IP Cooperations among BRICS Countries, which gives clearer direction for the future cooperation among the BRICS offices, incorporates "IP supports the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations" into the objectives, adds digital technology, IP protection and management into future cooperation, and refines the cooperation mechanism.

The meeting reviewed work progress in eight fields of cooperation and approved a number of achievements including Report on Comparison Study of AI Review Rules in BRICS Offices, Report on Comparison Study of Appearance Design Graph Submission Requirements in BRICS Offices, and Comparison Manual of Trademark Application and Review Procedure in BRICS Offices,  The BRICS offices and WIPO, for the first time, shared their experience on "IP assists the accomplishment of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations". All parties agreed that sharing wisdom on this topic carries great weight as it may help realize the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations, help BRICS exert greater influence on global IP governance. The meeting agreed to hold more in-depth discussions on this in the future.

Principal officials from relevant CNIPA departments also attended the meeting.(Translated from CNIPA Website Chinese Version)