The Brazilian IP scenario is a vibrant one, as the country has one of the largest markets in the world. Protecting a patent in Brazil, however, will sometimes take longer than expected. One of the ways that Brazil is trying to solve the patent backlog issue is through the legislative bill no. 2334/19, which aims for a change in the Brazilian Industrial Property Law, in order to enable cooperation agreements and partnerships between the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BPTO) and public or private entities. The bill has just been approved by the Brazilian House of Representatives' Economic Development, Industry, Commerce and Service Committee.
According to the Brazilian Office's own statistics, the patent backlog amounts to around 10 years, totaling 13 years of delay in case of pharmaceutical patent applications. In this sense, the main objective of this legislative bill is to reduce this backlog. The bill will do this by allowing the BPTO to enter cooperation agreements in order to train professionals on how to file better patent applications. It will also allow third-parties to perform preliminary, non-technical, parts of the administrative patent application procedure. After incorporating these strategies, technical examinations should be faster because the BPTO will be able to focus more on the technical aspects of the procedure, while allowing third parties to conduct preliminary procedures - not to mention that the quality of the patent applications should also increase due to BPTO's trainings.
However, there is still a long way before the bill can be signed by the President of Brazil. It still has to go through the analysis of the House of Representative's Commission on Constitution, Justice, and Citizenship, and, if approved, it still needs to be passed by the Brazilian Senate.
