By André Venturini and Louis Lozouet
The Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BRPTO) published on 21 December 2021 Ordinance #055/2021 that implements Phase III of the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Program as of 1 January 2022.
This is good news as it reveals the consistent success of Brazil’s involvement in PPH programs. Indeed, Phase I of the PPH Program was considered a triumph as it reached its limit of 400 applications in December 2020. Phase II of the PPH program, on its turn, began on 1 January 2021 and by the end of this year reached its limit of 600 applications. On 5 November 2021, the BRPTO reported the end of Phase II of the PPH program.
The PPH program is one of the BRPTO’s priority exam modality with focus on expediting the examination of Brazilian patent applications, which subject matter is considered patentable by a partner Patent Office. So far, the BRPTO has PPH agreements in force with the following Offices: Austria (APO); China (CNIPA); South Korea (KIPO); Denmark (DKPTO); United States (EUA); Europe (EPO); Japan (JPO); United Kingdom (UKIPO); Singapore (IPOS) and Sweden (PRV).
The main changes to the requirements of Phase II of the PPH program brought by Ordinance #055/2021 are the following:
- PCT-PPH: a favorable IPRP will be accepted as the basis for PPH requests.
- Number of requests: the limit of requests has increased from 600 to 800 requests per year, wherein:
- each IPC section has a limit of 150 requests per year;
- applicants are limited to one PPH request per week; and
- PCT-PPH is limited to 100 requests per year.
In addition to the implementation of the Phase III of the PPH program, the BRPTO and the Japan Patent Office signed a memorandum of cooperation for the renewal of the PPH agreement between the two countries on 9 November 2021. The current agreement expired on 30 November 2021. The new agreement will last for five years, starting on 1 December 2021. At last, on 16 December 2021, the BRTO and the Portuguese Patent and Trademark Office signed a memorandum of understanding to implement a PPH Pilot Project for patent applications filed in both offices with a duration of 5 years.
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