331. We thank the proponents of the document under debate that brings this important issue to the attention of the WTO delegations.
332. Peru is aware of the importance of an optimal management of Intellectual Property, in which MSMEs actively participate, with the clear objective of improving their competitiveness and commercial performance, to achieve their sustained growth.
333. However, we must bear in mind that 98% of the Peruvian business network is made up of microentrepreneurs, so we still have a long way to go internally before considering the internationalization of SMEs. In fact, the main Peruvian productive activities are mining, tourism, gastronomy, textile industry and agribusiness and in most of these industries, MSMEs are only dedicated to simple assembly processes, to commercialize, to export raw materials and to provide basic services, without an own brand.
334. Within this context, Peru is constantly promoting the Intellectual Property system for MSMEs to make effective use of it, in the search for having them gain more competitiveness and, with it, to evolve from an extraction economy to an economics of commercialization of products with added value. To this end, with a priority focus on MSMEs becoming aware of the benefits of Intellectual Property, The National Institute for the Defense of Free Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property (INDECOPI) has implemented various tools, such as:
Trademark Platform, in person and online: it is available for users in the link >>https://www.indecopi.gob.pe/es/web/plataforma-marcas<< through which users (non-agents, but micro, small and medium entrepreneurs) are guided and assisted virtually, throughout the entire phase prior to the presentation of the Brand Application.
Search your brand: A digital search engine that is available online for all users, free of charge. It is a powerful tool, without limitations and with several specific search filters, which also uses the same algorithms used by the Trademark Office itself when conducting the Trademark Registration Exam.
Electronic Gazette of Industrial Property: currently, trademark and patent publications are made electronically and free of charge, without any fees.
National Program of Collective Marks: it has an eminently social objective and is primarily focused on identifying and locating potential owners of collective brands among peasants, farmers, indigenous communities and small entrepreneurs. Just to expand on this, as other colleagues have mentioned, since our intellectual property authority has been in place, we have only registered 200 collective marks. Nevertheless, since this programme was implemented over the past two years, we have more than 4000 collective marks set up and registered.
Lastly, we should note the incorporation of the needs of the MSMEs, especially in regards of innovation and the use of marks at the step of designs. Peru has been working on this together with the WIPO.
335. In short, Peru supports MSMEs use of the system of Intellectual Property first, at the national level, in the most efficient way possible, and then enter a second phase of internationalization, in which products are marketed and services with added value are provided in foreign markets.
