The Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office has published on December 10th, 2024, the new rules for the PPH program which will resume on January 1st, 2025. The PPH program will encompass the countries which have PPH agreements in force signed with the Brazilian PTO as well as the members of the Global PPH. The complete list of eligible countries can be found here.
The main changes in comparison with the previous PPH rules are:
- The annual limit of PPH requests is of 3,200 requests, however there is a cap of 1,000 requests in the same session of International Patent Classification (IPC).
- There is no longer the limit of only one PPH request per week on behalf of the same applicant.
- The Brazilian set of claims must be identical or more restrict when comparing to the claims considered patentable by other jurisdiction or during the PCT international phase. However, it is allowed to add novel subject matter to the claims if it is supported by the specification and is intended to narrow the scope of protection.
- The Brazilian PTO will accept the results of the examination carried out in counterpart applications which countries have PPH agreements in force with Brazil and/or members of the Global PPH even if the priority application was filed in a country with no PPH agreement regarding Brazil.
There are other specific procedures that must be followed to prepare and file the PPH request. Our patent team in Brazil is ready to assist you in paving the path of the best strategy to be followed.
It is important to stress that after the filing of the PPH request it will be not allowed to amend or divide the patent application until a decision is made on such expedite examination request. It is also important to draw the attention to the fact that no PPH request will be accepted if there is another fast-track route requested in the same patent application.
If you would like to obtain information on how to expedite your patent in Brazil or other countries in LATAM, please do not hesitate to contact us at infomarketing@clarkemodet.com.
