Brazil: new patent priority examination

Brazil: new patent priority examination

Patricia Covarrubia   September 08, 2020   No comments:

Starting this September 2020, the Instituto Nacional da Propriedad Industrial (INPI) adds to its lists of patent priority examination, TWO more. They are technology applications resulting from public funding and technology applications already available on the market. 

INPI already has available 14 types of priority applications, that is, procedures in place. With the two new additions, INPI has ‘16 types of priority procedure available, 14 for the general public and two for public entities’. INPI notes that the period for decisions of priority examination, counted from the application date, was done in 13.1 months (July 2020). 

The move to prioritize these two was based on the following: 

1. Application with technology resulting from public funding: to ‘speed up the development of new technologies, given that investments in innovation impose high risks and uncertainties for the viability of new projects.’ INPI notes that ‘public funding agencies have been important drivers of innovation.’ 
2. Applications with technology already available on the market: to ‘promote an increase in legal certainty, with a consequent improvement in the business environment in Brazil.’ INPI notes that it is ‘possible to request the prioritization of the exam by third parties interested in the technology, also stimulating the innovative process.’

Source INPI.

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Brazil: a priority task

Brazil: a priority task

Patricia Covarrubia   August 06, 2020   No comments:

Seeking to help ‘startups’ to consolidate themselves in the market, INPI is examining their patent applications with priority. The initiative, which started on 30^th July, aims to support technology-based companies.

INPI reports that at the end of the first half of 2020, the average time frame for technical examination of priority patent applications was around 13 months.

A ‘startup’ is defined in the national Complementary Law No. 167, of April 24, 2019 (here in Portuguese). Startups must present a copy of the certificate issued by the Redesim portal, indicating the company as ‘Inova Simples’.

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Brazil launches Phase 3 of its Green Patent Programme

Brazil launches Phase 3 of its Green Patent Programme

Jeremy   May 19, 2014   No comments:

Last month, on 29 April, just 14 months after Patricia Covarrubia posted this piece on the grant of Brazil's first green patent, the Instituto Nacional da Propriedade Industrial (INPI) published Resolution 131. This expands the priority examination of green patent applications to its third phase. In this new phase of the programme -- which expires on 16 April 2015 or when the figure of 500 new requests has been reacehd -- patent applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) are also being taken into account.

Patent applications that qualify for this programme will be checked by an INPI technical board.  Only applications relating to certain types of technology will be considered, eg alternative energy, transport, energy conservation, waste management and agriculture (a full list of qualifying technologies can be read here).

There's more to it than merely falling within a category of technology that qualifies for fast-tracking, of course. Thus (i) the patent or utility model application must have up to 15 claims of which (for patent applications) up to three may be independent claims and (ii) there must be a Brazilian application, a PCT application in the Brazilian national phase or a Brazilian application filed under the Paris Convention [is there any other route to patent protection in Brazil apart from these?].

The Green Patent Programme, in force since 2012, has now attracted 523 requests, of which only 11 have been rejected.So far, 19 patents have been granted under the programme, each taking an average examination time of 385 days.

Source: Di Blasi Parente & Associados email circular here (in English and Portuguese)

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