Basic Patent Law in Brazil, and Recent Developments

Russell Boltwood, Vice President, Licensing and Intellectual Property, UTStarcom, USA

The largest country in South America by both geography and population, Brazil was discovered by Portuguese explorers in 1500. It remained a colony of Portugal until 1822, when Brazil declared its independence from Portugal. Initially, Brazil was constituted as an empire, but finally adopted a republic form of government in 1889. Since its formation as a republic, Brazil's political and governmental structure has been the subject of significant upheaval, with the country's military maintaining political control of the country for a substantial amount of time since 1889. Including the constitution put in place as part of the creation of the Empire of Brazil, the country has had a total of seven constitutions since its independence. In 1988, Brazil transitioned from military rule to a democratically-elected civilian government. That same year, the country adopted a new constitution which provides the foundation for its current legal and political institutions. This transition to democratic rule, along with the adoption of a new constitution, laid the political and legal foundation for Brazil's emergence as one of the world's largest and fastest-growing economies.

Russell Boltwood joined UTStarcom in December 1997 as its first Director of Law and Human Resources. He oversaw the Company's legal and human resources functions through its successful IPO in 2000, as well as through its expansion into India, Japan, Europe and South America. In 2007, Russell was promoted to Vice President, Licensing and Intellectual Property, and presently oversees the Company's patent and intellectual property licensing matters. Russell holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley, a J.D. from Golden Gate University in San Francisco, and is a graduate of the Executive Program at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business in Palo Alto, California. Russell is a member of the State Bar of California, and is the co-author of "Corporate Counsel Beware: Economic Espionage Is On the Rise," an article published in the May 2000 edition of the California Bar Journal.

UTStarcom is a global leader in the manufacture, integration and support of IP-based, end-to-end networking and telecommunications solutions. The company sells converged broadband wireless and wireline products, an integrated IPTV solution, and a comprehensive line of handset and customer premise equipment to operators in both emerging and established telecommunications markets worldwide.