Latin America - The Latin America IP SME Helpdesk goes virtual (matchmaking & training events)

As usual, our IP Helpdesk was planning the spring events all around Europe, in which all our experts and IP representatives go and meet with EU SMEs and Business Support Organizations through trade fairs, workshops and B2B matchmaking events. Suddenly, March 2020 came and every country in the European Union had to close due to current Covid-19 spread.

This year 2020 began with businesses having to stop running, frontiers had to close, we had to communicate exclusively via videoconference platforms like Skype, Meet Google or the new sensation “Zoom” and everyone was missing many things all at once.

This situation we are living now confronts us with challenges, but it also opens up opportunities to take new ways. This was the case as well for the Latin American IP SME Helpdesk.

Matchmaking events

May is usually the busiest month to our IP representatives, with several events that have to be attended in very little time. In this case, the majority of events were postponed to this fall, and some others said goodbye until 2021. But some events were going virtual, and our Helpdesk is always open to new challenges like this one.

What is the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Latin American region?

Many matchmakings with different enterprises begain usually in the same way: “How is the situation in your country?”. It is normal to worry for each other’s situation and the very first questions were always family-related. Many EU SMEs like yours are fighting hard against the current situation, but they will end up stronger once all this is over.

During these events, we received questions in regard to the situation in Latin America, since many EU SMEs are running their businesses in this region. The answer is that national IP offices in Latin America are struggling, since they were not ready to afront this situation. At the same time some IPOs allow users to access their registration process online: INPI Argentina, INPI Brazil, INAPI Chile, SENAPI Bolivia, SIC Colombia, ONAPI Dominican Republic, SENADI Ecuador and MIEM Uruguay. Moreover, DINAPI Paraguay too will make online registration available soon. Terms & deadlines have been suspended in practically all countries.

In our website, we have published an update on the 19 different Latin American IP Offices: http://www.latinamerica-ipr-helpdesk.eu/news/intellectual-property-offices-latam-covid-19-update

Training events

One of our pillars was shocked by this crisis, preventing our experts from attending EU SMEs in the more than 25 face-to-face events scheduled for this spring-summer session.

Nevertheless, the Helpdesk had already much experience in the online format, and the network of collaborators allowed for a rapid migration to the new promised land. As a result, 30 new webinars will be delivered during this period, including a long list of sector-focused, country-specific (including the particularities in the current context) and horizontal trainings. In this regard, many new partners, like the EU-Japan Technology Transfer Helpdesk (join us next week here) or IP Key LA (don’t miss this week’s webinar about Brazil here), were called to stage in a series of joint webinars that aimed to cover more topics and reach more EU SMEs.

Any concrete example about that? Why choose just one? You can check all our upcoming events here and -what’s better- (re)view any of the previous online trainings at your will. You can find the full menu here.

And remember that if you feel like having something special, we are at your disposal. Our IP-chefs will elaborate the event you were looking for. Bon appétit.

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Do not miss the opportunity to get in touch with us and check our future online training events: http://www.latinamerica-ipr-helpdesk.eu/training/online-training

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