حقوق مالکیت معنوی و علامت تجاری در کشورهای BRICS: مطالعه تطبیقی Intellectual property and trademark legal framework in BRICS countries: A comparative study

1. Introduction In 2001, Goldman Sachs Global Economic Research, through its economist and former chairman Jim O’Neil, coined the acronym BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) in a publication entitled Building Better Global Economic BRICs to refer to the most prominent group between new emerging world market. In 2011, at the Third Summit of BRIC, South Africa became part of the group, who adopted the acronym BRICS. The transformation that BRICS goes by currently is quite significant and they are no longer a simple acronym of a financial analysis tool, it becomes a forum for political negotiations among their five member countries. Once the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) came into force in 1995, the BRICS countries have undertaken significant amendments in their intellectual property systems, changed their laws and become signatories to various conventions, treaties and agreements. There are some reasons to focus on these countries. Firstly, all BRICS countries seems to have some ability to contribute to the management of international order in regional or global terms, in addition to some degree of internal cohesion and capacity for effective state action [1]. Further, BRICS countries believe in their right to play a more influential role in world affairs and, therefore, to effectively participate in the proposal of new international regulatory framework on intellectual property, including also those related, for example, to trademarks. In March 2013, the 5th meeting of Heads of State Summit of BRICS took place in Durban, South Africa. Alongside of the above mentioned meeting, it were held the Third Meeting of the BRICS Trade Ministers when the Contact Group on Economic and Trade Issues (CGETI) has established that one of the work areas to be covered by the BRICS would be the cooperation in the field of intellectual property [2]. On the other hand, in assessing the future of BRICS intellectual property regimes, many authors choose to focus on copyright and trademark piracy. Accordingly, it is the area that is subject to most scrutiny and is easily followed as a measure of progress [3], [4]. Much has been said about BRICS economies; however, there is a lack of investigation regarding the legal framework with respect to trademark in those countries.