The BRPTO published Ordinance No. 404, of December 29, 2020, which anticipates and establishes Phase II of Pilot Project Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH).

Phase I of the Cooperation Project between several jurisdictions, aimed to assist Applicants, simplify and contribute to speeding up the patent application proceedings, as well as providing legal security, has recently reached the annual limit of 400 applications and is temporarily suspended. Due to the promising results of the Patent Backlog Combat Plan and the project to standardize the priority procedures, INPI and DIRPA decided to anticipate the PPH phase II to 01/01/21, previously estimated to begin in 01/01/22.

The main changes proposed for the second phase of the PPH are:

– Up to 600 total applications per year (200 in addition to previous Phase I);
– Up to 150 requests per IPC section per year (50 in addition to previous Phase I); and
– Up to 1 application per Applicant per week (previously limited to 1 Applicant per month).

As established by the new Ordinance, the BRPTO will consider the technical examination carried out by any Patent Office of Earlier Examination (OEE). Previously, only the examination of OEE where the patent family started could be used. Furthermore, there will be an official fee refund for cases in which the requirement to participate in the program exceeded the stipulated limits. Another update relates to the impossibility of filing an appeal in cases of non-admission to the program, and in such circumstances the Applicant will have the possibility of presenting another requirement submitting new documentation.

Click here https://bit.ly/38hhwKI for more infomation (in Portuguese).

 

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