The new president of the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BPTO) – Luiz Otávio Pimentel – took office on August 11 2015 in a formal ceremony in the city of Rio de Janeiro. During his speech, the new president clearly and expressly recognised that the existing backlog of work in the patents and trade marks sectors is a serious and damaging problem: it hampers greater local investments, especially foreign ones, and jeopardizes the state policy on the promotion of local innovation and entrepreneurship.