Latin America - Efficiency as a key driver of patent and design enforcement in Peru

INDECOPI has issued a report in Spanish and English on the enforcement measures of Patents and Design rights in Peru during the last 5 years. Given the importance of the legal and institutional framework through which IP rights can be enforced, and the assurances requested and needed by innovative industries before considering expanding into a new territory, INDECOPI’s report aims to consolidate the idea that Peru is indeed a good environment for new investments in Latin America.

The report is based on data on lawsuits and complaints filed with INDECOPI’s Commission of Inventions and New Technologies during the last five years for the enforcement of patents for inventions, patents for utility models or industrial design rights. The analysis of the Commission’s decisions taken by legal and technical experts based on these requests, which have been constantly growing during this period, highlights the following indicators:

• Peruvian courts are efficient in handing in a decision within an acceptable time-frame: an average of 4 working days for the adoption of preliminary injunctions in 2018, and an average of 108 working days for the issuance of the final decision in the same year).
• Decisions taken by Peruvian courts are of high quality and sound logic: in the light of the very high ration of decisions confirmed in second instance. (a ratio of 80% confirmed decisions in 2018) one must salute the fact that dispute settlement mechanisms are being run by INDECOPI itself, thereby ensuring the highest quality decision being taken.
• Overall growth in fines imposed in face of infringement acts or the contempt of the authority’s orders (the highest total value of fines was imposed in 2018).
• The number of inspections carried out against alleged infringers upon request of the right holder has markedly increased. 

Finally, the report also gives an overview of the recent developments in Peruvian IP enforcement rules, such as the abrogation of the payment requirement for the substantive examination of a complaint. These amendments aim to improve still more the processing of infringement lawsuits and actions, in benefit of right holders.

You can read here the full report, which should be of interest to any innovative enterprise planning on expanding to Peru or aiming to protect its IP assets in the country.

Author:

Diego Francoise Ortega Sanabria

Technical Secretary at the Commission of Inventions and New Technologies – INDECOPI