Brazil, Legislation, Pharma

, (RNA Law)/

Brazil’s president published, on September 27, Decree No. 11,715/2023 which institutes the “National Strategy for the Development of the Economic-Industrial Health Complex”. This decree aims at directing public and private investments towards the health and innovation sectors to reduce the Public Health System’s (SUS) vulnerability and increase access to medicines. It aims to do this…

Amendments, Brazil

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The BRPTO published on September 14 an invitation for interested parties to comment on a proposal to review the provisions of the Brazilian IP Statute regarding two relevant timeframes for patent owners filing applications in Brazil. The first concerns the term for requesting examination (currently 36 months from filing, per Section 33), and the second…

Brazil, evidence, Litigation

, (RNA Law)/

Judges deciding patent matters in Brazil usually have none to limited technical background. In view of the complexity of patent cases, it is often that we see judges appointing a court examiner, as defined by law: “the judge will be assisted by a court expert whenever the proof of the fact depends on technical or…

Added matter, Brazil

(RNA Law) and , (Licks Attorneys)/

In Brazil amendments to claims are possible if the patent applicant can show the changes are limited to the matter initially disclosed in the patent application (Article 32 of Patent Statute 9,279 of 1996).   Thus, like most other countries, Brazilian patent law contains a prohibition against added matter. However,  in a separate provision, the Brazilian…

(Compulsory) license, Brazil

(Licks Attorneys) and (RNA Law)/

In what will be seen as a welcome development to IP owners, the Brazilian Patent Office (BRPTO) is improving the system to record IP agreements. More specifically, on 11 July 2023, the BRPTO published Ordinances 26 and 27/2023, improving the guidelines for registration of technology transfer and franchise agreements. For recordal purposes, complete agreements are…

Brazil, SEP

(RNA Law) and , (Licks Attorneys)/

The Brazilian PTO (BRPTO) released, on July 20, 2023, the report “5G Technology: Patent overview in the World and in Brazil”, with an overview of 5G Standard Essential Patent (SEP) applications. It highlights that the expansion of network infrastructure in the world is an important international agenda, as published by the ITU (International Telecommunications Union)….

Brazil, Case Law, Infringement, Second Medical Use, Validity

, (RNA Law)/

A recent decision issued by the federal district court could impact medical use patents in Brazil. In an invalidity lawsuit filed by the Brazilian affiliate of Sun Pharma against Boehringer Ingelheim, Federal Judge Carvalho, sitting at the 9th Federal District Court in Rio de Janeiro, has granted a preliminary injunction ordering the Brazilian Patent and…

Brazil, Double Patenting, Legislation

, (RNA Law) and (Licks Attorneys)/

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…

Brazil, Case Law, Novelty

, (RNA Law) and , (Licks Attorneys)/

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…

Brazil, Case Law

, , (RNA Law)/

The Brazilian Patent Statute (Federal Law #9,279/96) establishes that foreign applicants must appoint and maintain a representative in Brazil for each patent application filed with the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BRPTO). Only through a patent agent—be it a person or a legal entity—can a foreign application file and prosecute an application. In November 2020,…