Patentes de produtos naturais amazônicos: análise do impacto da inovação tecnológica mundial

Abstract

The study discusses the main aspects of intellectual property and the questions about Amazon, especially the patenting of natural products. Because of unknowing and bureaucracy linked to the system, patenting in Brazil still generates indifference to many entrepreneurs and researchers. However it appears that this scenario is changing with the help of the Innovation Act. Although this law encourages innovation, there are many barriers that prevent the production of new products and processes in the country, especially in Amazon, such as the lack of qualified professionals, resources and issues regarding to the access to genetic resources and traditional knowledge. In this context, the study's goal is to investigate the creation of knowledge and the protection of main Amazonian species of economic interest. For the purpose, we selected 13 species classified as priorities to the Northern Region development, these species are characterized by economic importance in the bioproducts production and by the current and future market potential. Searches and data collections have been carried out in Web of Science and Derwent Innovations Index databases. Bibliometric analysis was used as method, and the VantagePoint software was chosen to process datas.The research results indicate that Brazil is responsible for 62.4% of scientific knowledge on the studied species, followed by the United States with 18.9% and Germany with 8.4%. However, regarding to the patents, United States stands with 34.3%, followed by Brazil with 16.2% and 16.0% in Japan. The species with a few patent documents are little known in the world market, such as: white ucuba, sacaca and bacury. In the analyzed period (2000 - 2009), there is an increase in the patents number on studied species. The INPA is the only Brazilian institute among those with the highest number of patents. Patents documents generally deal with the application of species mainly in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, and in the area of agricultural production and food. Guarana is the species that presents the highest number of patents followed by acai, and Brazil is the main patenting holder in crabwood, bacuri fruit, moriche, cupuassu, peach palm and white ucuba. Therefore, universities and Brazilian research institutes allied to business groups have the important role to corroborate the national scientific and technological development, especially in Amazon. Thus, broaden the dissemination and awareness on intellectual property in the scientific community and business is essential.