Source: ETCO, 29/03/2005

The issue of the violation of industrial and intellectual property was debated this Tuesday, the 29th, during the seminar “Brazil against Piracy”, promoted by Fiesp. Businessmen and government officials addressed the issue in its various aspects, going through the Brazilian reality, the legal and administrative structure, specific cases of damages and losses to the Brazilian industry and productive sector, the international scenario, in addition to future perspectives and proposals.

The Seminar marks the beginning of a mobilization against the damage caused by piracy. Among those present, representatives of industries from various sectors affected by the problem of piracy, such as the pharmaceutical, music, textile, eyewear, among others.

The event was opened by the president of the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Fiesp), Paulo Skaf, who affirmed that the entity will “go all out” in the fight against piracy in Brazil, “an evil that needs to be eliminated” and causes billions of reais for the country per year. The table was also composed by the Minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Luiz Fernando Furlan, of the Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Luiz Paulo Teles Ferreira Barreto, of the US Senator Norm Coleman, of the President of the Subcommittee for the Western Hemisphere the United States Senate Foreign Relations Commission, ambassador John Danilovitch, and federal deputy Luiz Antonio Medeiros, president of CPI da Pirataria.

The second part of the Seminar addressed the issue of “Brazilian Reality” from an economic, legal and administrative framework point of view. The table was chaired by the chief director of Fiesp's International Relations and Foreign Trade department, Roberto Giannetti da Fonseca, who introduced the other guests, the president of ABPI, Gustavo Leonardos, the president of INPI, Roberto Jaguaribe, the executive president of the ETCO, Emerson Kapaz, and deputy Julio Lopes.

For Emerson Kapaz, the entrepreneur needs to develop a mentality that it is not possible to have competition without ethics. “We need to inform and raise public awareness about the consequences of unfair competition; mobilize and support the constituted powers and private entities to combat this problem and propose additional legal instruments to curb the spread of these practices ”.