Brazilian PTO celebrates 53 years with project to recover the history of patents in Brazil

Brazilian PTO celebrates 53 years with project to recover the history of patents in Brazil

Last week, the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BPTO) celebrated its 53rd anniversary. In celebration of the date, the institute launched the “Memória da Propriedade Industrial – Patentes Históricas” (Memory of Industrial Property – Historical Patents) project, to revisit the memory of inventions created in Brazil and around the world through patent documents filed with the BPTO, thus making them available in a database open to the public. Based on the collection, the agency published a digital book called “As invenções no Brasil contadas a partir de documentos históricos de patentes” (Inventions in Brazil told from historical patent documents).

According to the BPTO, more than 3,000 documents from the end of the 19th century to the first decades of the 20th century were analyzed, with the aim of digitizing and disseminating the information, mainly technological, contained above all in letters patent signed by the Presidents of the Republic at the time. Thus, the book was structured to first present an overview of patents and the historical-legal trajectory of their emergence in the world and in the country, and then to analyze the historical collection covered.

Later on, the book looks at some of the inventions of the time, considered to be the “age of inventors”. It also gives an overview of the great inventors, mapping their lives and achievements and describing their work, as well as information on their patents. Among the personalities mentioned are the Brazilians Arthur Higgins, Alcides Godoy, Antônio Cardoso Fontes and Vital Brazil.

Finally, the book highlights women inventors in the BPTO’s document collection, surveying 19 patent applications filed in Brazil by women in the 20th century, in a wide range of technological fields. The book highlights the work of the English inventor Anne de Löwenstein-Wertheim (who created an improvement for stretchers and litters) and the Portuguese inventor Hilda de Almeida Brandão Rodrigues Miranda (who patented a manual process for making carpets, runners, curtains, and cushions).  Other inventions created by women include creams for curing skin diseases, cigar-making machines, refrigerator cabinets, bleach and disinfectant preparations, gas lighters, etc.

The book “Inventions in Brazil told from historical patent documents” can be accessed via the link: https://www.gov.br/inpi/pt-br/projetos-estrategicos/patentes-historicas/arquivos/livro-as-invencoes-no-brasil/@@download/file

Note: For quick release and cost control, this English version is provided by automated translation without human review.