Prosur

What Prosur does

PROSUR (Sistema de Cooperación sobre aspectos de información operacional y de Propiedad Industrial) is a regional intergovernmental cooperation system founded in 2010 that links the national industrial property offices of 14 Latin American countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic, and Uruguay. The organization, hosted with rotating Pro Tempore presidencies and a small secretariat of approximately 5 employees based in Pando, Canelones, Uruguay, operates as a non-profit platform rather than a commercial enterprise and is funded by member-country contributions and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Regional Public Goods grants (projects RG-T1688 and RG-T2429).

The platform's core products are web-based search and examination tools covering patents, trademarks, industrial designs, and public-domain technologies, including a Patent Search Engine, a Trademark Search Engine with image recognition, an Industrial Design Search Engine, a Public Domain Technology Search Engine, a Nice-classification-based Goods and Services Classifier, and Interactive Statistical Maps. Workflow tools include the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) for accelerated patent examination, a Regional Trademark Application Form piloted in Chile, Uruguay, and Peru, and the PROSUR-PROYECTA community platform. PROSUR integrates with WIPO-developed infrastructure (WIPOCASE, Global Brand Database, IPAS) and the EUIPN-developed CESTO trademark examination tool, and has published thematic bulletins (COVID-19 public-domain patents, Women's Patents) and runs an annual Patent Inventions Contest feeding into WIPO's Geneva exhibition.

PROSUR's business model is non-commercial: services are free to users across member countries, there is no pricing model, and the entity is owned collectively by its member offices rather than by private shareholders. The primary customer segment is the 14 national industrial property offices themselves, with secondary user segments including inventors, SMEs, and academic institutions in member countries. In 2024 the platform served a population of approximately 565 million across member jurisdictions, alongside 53,692 patent applications and 1,037,627 trademark applications filed in PROSUR countries. Partnerships with WIPO, IDB, EUIPN, and KIPO provide technical assistance, funding, and tool-sharing.

Name

Prosur

Legal name

Sistema de Cooperación sobre aspectos de información operacional y de Propiedad Industrial - PROSUR

Website

https://prosur.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

PROSUR is a non-profit intergovernmental cooperation system linking 14 Latin American national industrial property offices, providing free patent, trademark, and design search tools, an accelerated Patent Prosecution Highway, and a regional trademark application form across 565 million people.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Intellectual Property Services

NAICS

International Affairs (92812), Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (541)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), International Affairs (9721)

akta.pro primary industry

IP Management, Patents & Trademark Software (BPAEAPAN)

Keywords

• Industrial property cooperation
• Patent search tools
• Trademark search tools
• Patent prosecution highway
• Regional IP offices

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

PROSUR operates a regional cooperation platform that delivers shared industrial property tools and services for the national IP offices of 14 Latin American countries. Its offerings include web-based search engines for patents, trademarks, industrial designs, and public domain technologies, a Nice classification tool, accelerated patent examination via the Patent Prosecution Highway, a regional trademark application form, statistical mapping tools, and themed patent bulletins. It is a non-commercial intergovernmental cooperation system funded by member countries and the Inter-American Development Bank rather than a paid product.

Product overview

PROSUR is a regional cooperation system (Sistema de Cooperación) for Industrial Property offices in Latin America and the Caribbean. The platform offers a suite of web-based search and analysis tools for patents, trademarks, industrial designs, and public domain technologies across 14 member countries. Key offerings include the Patent Search Engine, Trademark Search Engine, Industrial Design Search Engine, Public Domain Search Engine, Goods and Services Classifier, Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) for accelerated patent examination, Interactive Statistical Maps, and a Regional Trademark Application Form. The platform also hosts the PROSUR Proyecta community platform and publishes public domain patent bulletins.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• 53,692 patent applications processed across member countries in 2024
• +3 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Korean IP office collaborates on the Appropriate Technology Competition in Dominican Republic, sharing the Korean development model that promotes technological innovation and IP registration.
• Patent Offices of Member CountriescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016Network of 14 national industrial property offices across Latin America (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay) collaborating on patent and trademark examination, data exchange, and best practices.
• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWIPO collaborates with PROSUR on technical assistance, capacity building, and the development agenda. Key initiatives include WIPOCASE for patent documentation exchange, Global Brand Database integration, and joint participation in initiatives like the International Inventions Fair of Geneva.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• European Patent Office (EPO): Regional patent granting authority for Europe with patent search, examination, and prosecution tools; comparable to PROSUR's Patent Prosecution Highway and patent search engine in role and function.
• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO): Global UN agency that sets international IP norms and operates platforms (Global Brand Database, WIPOCASE, IPAS, Madrid/PCT) that directly overlap with PROSUR's patent and trademark tools and with which PROSUR is already a strategic partner.

Direct peers

• African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO): Regional intergovernmental IP cooperation body for African anglophone countries providing shared registration and search services; structurally analogous to PROSUR's regional IP office cooperation model.
• European Union Intellectual Property Network (EUIPN): Network of national IP offices of the EU plus EUIPO collaborating on shared tools; PROSUR co-developed the CESTO trademark examination platform with EUIPN, making it a direct methodological peer.
• Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle (OAPI): Francophone African regional IP organization offering unified IP registration across member states; the closest structural analog to PROSUR as a multilateral IP cooperation system.
• European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO): Regional IP office for the EU offering integrated trademark and design registration tools across member states; PROSUR is modeled as a similar regional cooperation layer for Latin America and shares tooling DNA via the CESTO collaboration.

Regional players

• INPI Brazil: Brazilian national IP office and one of PROSUR's largest founding members, contributing the highest volume of trademark and patent filings in the bloc and participating in PPH and CESTO rollouts.
• Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO): National IP office of Korea partnering with PROSUR on the Appropriate Technology Competition in the Dominican Republic; serves as an Asia-based reference partner for PROSUR's regional cooperation approach.
• INAPI Chile: Chilean national IP office and pilot participant in PROSUR's regional trademark application form and digital patent files platform; one of the most active national offices within the cooperation system.
• INPI Argentina: Argentine national IP office and current host of PROSUR's Pro Tempore presidency; represents the type of national office that PROSUR serves and coordinates, and is the platform's lead member under Carlos María Gallo.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/search
• Facebookfacebook.com/Prosur-245802662577619
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/prosur-org

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Prosur