Iberian study – “Patents and forest fire control”

The Iberian study “Patents and forest fire control”, carried out by the Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) and the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (OEPM), is now available.

The launch, in Portugal, was held yesterday at the Agency for Integrated Rural Fire Management (AGIF) headquarters, in Lousã, in the presence of Municipal Councillor, Ricardo Fernandes, AGIF’s President, Tiago Oliveira, INPI’s Directive Council’s President, Ana Bandeira, and the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office’s President, José A. Gil Celedonio. The launch was followed by a presentation session in Badajoz, which happened today in the Spanish Government Delegation in the autonomous region of Estremadura.

During the ceremony in Lousã, a Memorandum of Understanding for bilateral cooperation was also signed, providing for the exchange of experiences and good practices between the two Offices.

This study reveals the most promising technologies (that present an associated patent document) in the realm of firefighting and control of rural fires, disclosing the crucial role that, also in this field, Industrial Property takes on in encouraging innovation. It also provides information on the main initiatives and policies adopted, in this framework, in Portugal and Spain. The study also includes a chapter on AGIF’s opinion regarding the prevention and detection of fires in Portugal, as a public institute responsible for integrated analysis, planning, evaluation and strategic coordination of the System of Integrated Management of Rural Fires, including the qualified intervention in high risk events.

Between 2010 and 2011, 3 137 patent or utility model documents, directly related with rural fires, were published. In the past decade, the number of patent applications concerning rural fires progressively increased throughout the world. In 2021, more 357,66% patent applications were published, worldwide, than in 2011. In particular, in the past 5 years, the number of applications increased at a rapid pace, and Spain is the European Union country which has submitted the highest number of patent applications in the realm of rural fires.

The study was based on technical information provided by patents on the sustainable management of the forest, the fight against desertification, the prevention of the soil degradation and the loss of biodiversity, and its focus was the analysis of the evolution of patents related to the control of rural fires. It was elaborated by INPI’s and OEPM’s examiners, with the technical and scientific advice of experts from the Academy and from competent national bodies in firefighting and control of fires in Spain and Portugal.

Consult the study HERE.