Brazilian PTO updates the procedures related to Patent Examination Fast Track Program

Brazilian PTO updates the procedures related to Patent Examination Fast Track Program

The Brazilian PTO published in IP Journal no. 2712, on December 27, 2022, Ordinances nº 78/2022 and 79/2022, which regulate, respectively, phase IV of the Pilot Project of Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) and the procedures related to expedited examination at the PTO.

The PPH is a program that aims to accelerate the examination of a patent application that obtains a positive decision related its patentability, in a corresponding case abroad, from a foreign Patent Office.

The PPH was extended to Prosul (CL, CO, SV, EC, PE, DO, PY, UY).

The main changes in the PPH procedure are: the new validity term, from 01/01/2023 to 12/31/2025; the maximum limit of applications per IPC per year that has been increased from 150 to 250; and new collaboration agreements.

On the other hand, the fast-tracking examination program prioritizes the examination procedure of the patent application. The new regulation includes several possibilities that allow a faster examination of a patent application, for example, in view of the applicant (e.g. patent applications belonging to individuals aged 60 or over), the situation (e.g. patent applications whose grants are conditions for obtaining financial resources), the technology (e.g. patent applications claiming protection of a green technology) and cooperation (e.g. patent applications belonging to patent families whose protections have been initially required in Brazil); as well as when the subject matter of the invention is launched in the Brazilian market.

The most relevant changes in relation to the accelerated examination program are: the consolidation of the possibilities of fast-track into only one regulation (before, there were two); possibility “Technologies for the treatment, prophylaxis and diagnosis of COVID-19” no longer exists and is out of the new regulation; the definition of the “Startup” possibility was changed (from Law 167/2019 to Law 182/2021); and, in possibility “Technology for treatment of health” (AIDS, cancer, rare diseases etc.), the definition of public health emergencies of national or international importance in accordance with Law 7616/2011 (Espin) and the WHO was added.

For further information, please see: https://www.gov.br/inpi/pt-br/central-de-conteudo/noticias/tramite-prioritario-de-patentes-e-atualizado