18th BRICS IP Offices Heads Meeting Held in New Delhi

The heads of the intellectual property offices of the BRICS countries met in New Delhi. This was the 18th such meeting. It ran for three days, from 1 to 3 September 2026, and the second day fell on 2 September.

Who hosted it

The host was the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, shortened to CGPDTM. That office sits under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Around 35 delegates took part. Those from Russia, Iran and Ethiopia joined online; the rest of the member offices came in person.

The theme and the main outcome

The discussions followed the theme of India's BRICS Chairship, Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability. The main outcome was the adoption of the Updated Operational Guidelines. These are meant to guide result-oriented cooperation, encourage innovation across borders, and strengthen joint work on shaping global IP standards.

What else was taken up

The heads recognised traditional knowledge and traditional systems of medicine as part of a shared cultural and intellectual heritage that has to be protected and preserved. They noted progress under the Study on Reinforced Patent Examination Cooperation in BRICS, whose purpose is to streamline processes, cut backlogs and improve the exchange of search results. Findings on patent analytics and on Geographical Indications were taken on board, with an eye on better protection and commercialisation of GI products across BRICS markets.

New projects

Deliberations closed on a set of new projects. They include the BRICS Intellectual Property Awareness Series, the IP BRICS FinTech Innovation Monitor, the BRICS Industrial Property Commercialisation Forum and Best Practices Repository, work on IP policies for public health and development, research on the design systems of BRICS countries, and a Manual of Patent Documentation and Information Resources. The heads also stressed coordination mechanisms and periodic review so that these projects are actually carried through. India holds the BRICS Chairship in 2026, which is why the annual meeting came to New Delhi.