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Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visited India from February 18-22, 2026, for a high-level state visit aimed at strengthening strategic, trade, and technology partnerships, including a focus on AI. He met with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and discussing areas like energy, agriculture, and defense.
The National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI), Brazil and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India have entered into a cooperation arrangement on access to the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL), a first-of-its-kind prior-art database of Indian traditional knowledge. The Agreement was exchanged in the august presence of President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, and Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India.
The two leaders welcomed the exchange of the TKDL Access Agreement between INPI, Brazil and CSIR, India, which further strengthens bilateral cooperation in the areas of traditional knowledge (TK) and intellectual property rights (IPR).
The Agreement was exchanged by H.E. Márcio Fernando Elias Rosa, Deputy Minister of Development, Industry, Trade & Services, Brazil, and Shri Periasamy Kumaran, IFS, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.
Through this cooperation, the Brazilian Patent Office will gain access to the TKDL database for use during patent examination and grant procedures. The TKDL serves as a key mechanism to prevent the misappropriation and erroneous patenting of Indian traditional knowledge as intellectual property.
The signing of the TKDL Access Agreement with INPI, Brazil marks the beginning of a new partnership that will strengthen India’s global efforts to prevent biopiracy and misappropriation of traditional knowledge, while supporting Brazil in improving the quality and efficiency of its patent examination process by facilitating better assessment of novelty and prior art.