Petrobras breaks patent filing record in 2022

This is a machine translation of Petrobras' press release

For the second consecutive year, Petrobras broke the record for filing patent applications with the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI), with 128 new applications filed by 12/30, surpassing the 119 filings of 2021. On the occasion, the company broke its own record, of 95 deposits, obtained in 2005. With this mark, the company maintains the leadership position among national depositors: companies, universities and Institutes of Science and Technology. The company has been gaining positions in this ranking: it went from 5th place in 2019 to 2nd in 2020 and, since last year, it has led the way in patent applications.

“Petrobras is one of the largest aggregators of the country's energy innovation ecosystem. Through Cenpes, and our highly qualified personnel, we develop technologies and establish partnerships with the main scientific institutions and technology-based companies in Brazil and abroad. These agreements are fundamental for anticipating solutions, overcoming challenges and innovating, generating the best results for the business”, says the Director of Digital Transformation and Innovation, Paulo Palaia.

Petrobras is the Brazilian company that maintains the most active patents, with 1,100 deposits in the country. Most of the projects related to the 128 orders for 2022 were developed to meet the demands of exploration and production, refining, gas and energy, renewables and sustainable development projects, such as decarbonization and emissions reduction. Petrobras' Strategic Plan 2023-2027 foresees investments of around US$ 2.1 billion in digital transformation and innovation and the goal of surpassing the number of 1,200 active patents in Brazil in 2025.

Cenpes

To support R&D and I projects, Petrobras has the Leopoldo Miguez de Mello Research and Innovation Center, Cenpes, which is one of the largest research centers in Latin America. There are over a thousand employees, highly specialized personnel, who have 116 laboratories, pilot plants and more than 4,700 pieces of equipment at their disposal. There, technologies applied to the business are tested and developed, as well as more than 900 partnerships with companies, universities and science and technology institutions, forming an innovation ecosystem with more than 9,000 researchers.

Connections

Another engine of innovation for the company is the Petrobras Conexões para Inovação program, which connects the company with the entire innovative ecosystem, from startups, universities, Science and Technology Institutions (ICTs) to companies. Divided into modules, it brings together different ways of developing, testing or commercializing technologies with Petrobras. This year, more than 100 challenges were launched through the Conexões para Inovação portal and more than 60 new partnerships were signed, surpassing the value of R$ 140 million in contracted investment.

Innovation

Petrobras was the big winner of the 2022 ANP Innovation Award. The company took first place in four of the five categories and was a finalist with 13 projects in partnership with universities, research institutions and other companies. The award recognizes results associated with Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I) projects that represent technologies of interest to the Oil, Natural Gas, Biofuels, Petrochemicals, Renewable Energies, Energy Transition and Decarbonization sectors.