Information Technology landscape in PORTUGAL
Legal Environment19
Portugal has improved its IPR practices in recent years, however the
Business Software Alliance (BSA) and the Software Publishing Association
(SPA) estimate that piracy deprived software developers of approximately
$61.1 million in Portugal in 1996. Portugal reduced piracy from 61 percent
in 1995 to 53 percent in 1996.19a
Portugal is a party to
the Berne and Paris Conventions and is considered to have established somewhat
adequate copyright protection standards.
Enforcement is improving,
but can be drawn out in the laborious Portuguese court system.
The Government has undertaken
numerous efforts to educate the public and business on issues of copyright
protection and software piracy and has stated that its efforts have been
successful. Computer programs are protected under IPR
rules related to literary and artistic works in Portugal.
The ITA's Office of Multilateral
Affairs has issued only one report regarding IPR issues affecting US-Portuguese
trade, but the industry involved was Portugal's pharmaceutical industry
and the issue dealt with was patent protection.20
As a Member of the WTO
and WIPO, Portugal has acquiesced to almost every major stipulation of
the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) agreement. Its
one area of difference appears in Article 14 bis (3), which informs
the Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
to the effect that the undertaking by authors to bring contributions to
the making of a cinematographic work must be in a written agreement. 21
Summary of Intellectual Property Rights
Patents. Patents are granted for a 20-year period and are not renewable.
If patents are not worked within a three-year period (dating from notice
of the grant), the patent is subject to compulsory licensing. Requests
for patents are subject to approval by the Industrial Property Bureau of
the Ministry of Industry and Energy.
Trademarks. Trademarks on all products are registered in Portugal
by foreign and domestic firms with the Institute of Industrial Property.
Trademarks are registered for a 10-year period, and are renewable for additional
10-year periods. Industrial designs and models are offered protection rights
for one year which are renewable indefinitely.
Copyrights. Portugal is a party to the Berne convention for
the Protection of Artistic and Literary Works. Copyrights are protected
for the life of the author and for 50 years following the author's death.
The Portuguese Association of Software Producers (ASSOFT) has conducted
an aggressive public awareness campaign including raids of large companies
and seizures of illegal software to reduce copyright infringement and piracy.
Trade Secrets. Trade secret violations have been a problem due
to the belabored court process. Courts will uphold initial contracts that
stipulate against any possible violations and provide for penalties.
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