In the Industrial Property Gazette of August 27, 2024 it was published that during the administrative processing of some Patents, some applications were marked with the “Positive Declaration of Access to Genetic Heritage” for the object of the aforementioned patent. However, until the end of the administrative processing of the same, which culminated in the granting and subsequent issuance of the letters patent, the applicant/owner did not present any additional information regarding the number and date of registration or authorization of access to genetic heritage for the object of the patent.

In view of compliance with Brazilian legislation on access to genetic heritage (Law No. 13,123/2015), whose art. 47 establishes that “the granting of intellectual property rights by the competent body over a finished product or over reproductive material obtained from access to genetic heritage or associated traditional knowledge is subject to registration or authorization, under the terms of this Law”, the BRPTO will request the holder/owner (via the electronic address registered in the aforementioned administrative process) to express an opinion regarding the pending regularization, presenting information regarding the number and date of registration or authorization of access to the genetic heritage for the object of this patent.

To this end, the owner must file a petition informing about the Positive Declaration of Access to Genetic Heritage, or, if the information originally provided was incorrect and the subject matter of the patent does not result from access to the national genetic heritage, the holder must indicate in the body of this petition that the information originally provided is being corrected due to an error, and indicating that the subject matter of the application was not obtained as a result of access to the national genetic heritage, carried out on or after June 30, 2000.

There is a 60-day period to provide this information, starting from the date of the communication via e-mail. Failure to respond may result in the filing of a Patent Invalidity Action, as provided for in Article 56 of the LPI.

In case of any questions, please contact us at brj@clarkemodet.com