Under strong security, Jair Bolsonaro took office as Brazil’s President on January 1st. The inauguration was organized in four stages: it began in the afternoon with an ecumenical cult in the Cathedral of Brasilia. From there, Bolsonaro paraded next to the first lady, Michelle Bolsonaro, in a vehicle that took him to the National Congress, where he took office as president and stated that he wants to free Brazil from corruption, crime and economic mismanagement. Soon after, he headed to the Planalto Palace, the executive branch’s head office, and, in the evening, he participated in a cocktail held in the Itamaraty Palace, the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BRPTO) and the Japan Patent Office (JPO) formalized this Wednesday 16th January in Tokyo the agreement to renew the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program between Brazil and Japan. Liane Lage, Director of Patents, Computer programs and Topographies of Integrated circuits of the INPI, and Susumu Iwasaki, Director of JPO’s Third Division of Patents (Chemistry and Life and Material Sciences) were present during the ceremony.

The election of Jair Bolsonaro (Social Liberal Party, PSL) on October 28th, 2018 as Brazil’s next President signals a departure from the foreign policy conducted by Head of States affiliated to the Workers’ Party (PT) in the past decade and a half. In fact, Bolsonaro has constructed his political identity on a narrative of radical change [Link].