Dr Patricia Covarrubia at the UK Trade & Investment Roadshow

On 18 May Dr Patricia Covarrubia was invited to participate in the UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) Roadshow taking place in Reading. The UKTI Roadshow focused on trade and investment for Latin America. The invitation was open to all SME traders and producers, who had the chance to have allocated times with people representing different Latin American countries. Dr Covarrubia met with various companies, providing guidance and advice as an Intellectual Property expert. She shared her desk with the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO).

Later in the day, Dr Covarrubia gave a presentation together with the UKIPO on why Intellectual Property (IP) is relevant and important to SMEs. Her presentation focused on the weakness of IP in the region such as the backlog presented in some of the national IPOs and the lack of specialised IP courts. At the end, she also noted the region’s strength by mentioning that countries have good legislation in place fulfilling international IP standards. Moreover, she acknowledged that the majority of Latin American countries are members of the Patent Cooperation Treaty  and a few are members of the international trade mark registration system (Madrid system).

Dr Covarrubia’s invitation came from the Latin America IPR SME Helpdesk, co-funded by the European Commission.