Despite the availability of therapeutic options that extend life expectancy, cancer remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide. A key reason for this persistently high mortality rate is the limited effectiveness of conventional treatments in overcoming acquired tumor resistance. Therefore, there is a long felt need for new treatment solutions that continues to…
As one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, Brazil has long been a natural research powerhouse. In fields such as pharmaceuticals, it is common to study the genome of plants, animals and microorganisms, applying this knowledge to create new products and processes that may be eligible for patent protection. As an example, in…
The BRPTO published on August 28, 2024, Appeal Board Ordinance #4, a rule intended to provide internal guidelines for the examiners responsible for analyzing appeals of patent applications, the so called “second instance” in Brazil. This Ordinance brings structured and standardized procedures that the examiners shall observe when analyzing appeals briefs ensuring consistency, transparency and…
The Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BRPTO) has issued a new set of guidelines to clarify its recent regulations on amending patent claims during the appellate phase and help patent applicants adapt to the new policy. Last month, we published an article regarding the decision rendered by the President of the BRPTO on 12 December…
Divisional filings are one of the most controversial topics in patent prosecution in Brazil. The Patent Office (BRPTO) severely limits the ability of patent applicants to file divisionals. For instance, the BRPTO rejects divisionals filed after receiving a notice of allowance, after receiving a denial or during the appeal stage. Article 26 of the Brazilian…
On December 12, 2023, the President of the BRPTO gave a normative and binding character to four Opinions of the Specialized Federal Attorney’s Office, imposing restrictions on the actions available to applicants when appealing first instance decisions. Particularly, the Opinion limits the provisions of the Brazilian Patent Statute which guarantee the “full devolutive effect”. Similarly…
The EPO and BRPTO are adopting the WIPO Standard ST.26 for the submission of sequence listings in national and international applications filed on or after July 1st, 2022. WIPO Standard ST.26 establishes new rules for the presentation of biological sequences in extensible markup language (XML). This format has many advantages over the former ST.25 (TXT)…
The Brazilian Patent Statute (Law #9,279/96) does not explicitly prohibit double patenting per se. However, as shown in the statistics set out below, the BRPTO regularly considers double patenting. This is based on the BRPTO’s interpretation of Article 6 of the Patent Statute (as set out below). In particular, the BRPTO interprets Article 6 as…
Brazilian courts and the patent office (BRPTO) are evolving in the evaluation of process claims. Key decisions on both forums are showing how effective those claims can be to protect products in the country. BRPTO’s Rule #124/2013 (items 3.60 and 3.61) and Rule #169/2016 (item 4.17) set forth that product-by-process claims are allowable as long…
