In view of the promising results obtained in the previous phases of the PPH Pilot Project at the Brazilian Patent Office (BPO), regarding the expeditious decisions on patent applications, there are already nearly 300 requests within the term of the current Ordinance 78 of December 16, 2022, which established Phase IV of the PPH on January 1, 2023.
This count is based on the period from January 1, 2023, to February 23, 2023, and is publicly available on the statistical panels on the BPO website, available at: https://www.gov.br/inpi/pt-br/servicos/patentes/pph/estatisticas-de-pph
According to this projection, the limit of 800 requests for the 2023 annual cycle of phase IV of the PPH is expected to be reached around the end of the 1st half of 2023.
Therefore, we strongly recommend that PPH requests be filed at the earliest opportunity, taking into consideration the limitations of filing one PPH requirement per applicant per weekly cycle (Monday through Sunday).
Finally, it is important to note that in addition to PPH, priority procedures may be required for a patent application at any stage of its administrative phase. The Ordinance 79 of December 16, 2022, provides such options for priority procedures that have advantages over the PPH program, such as the possibility of proceeding with the application without restrictive changes (as is usually necessary for PPH), the absence of limits on requests per annual cycle or per applicant per weekly cycle or per IPC (International Patent Classification), as established by the PPH Ordinance.
Some of the main priority procedures modalities included in Ordinance 79 are MEI, ME or EPP applicants, Scientific, Technological, and Innovation Institution (ICT) and Startup, patent process which subject matter is considered a green technology, health treatment technology (inventions related to the diagnosis, prophylaxis and/or treatment of AIDS, cancer, rare or neglected diseases and public health emergencies of national or international importance, such as COVID-19), the technology of public interest or national emergency, the technology available in the market (a patent application which all or part of the claimed subject matter is being commercialized in Brazilian territory), patent family initiated in Brazil (when the first filing occurred in Brazil and later other filings were made in other countries) and finally when there is an accusation of counterfeiting (by the applicant or a third party).
We offer proactive, strategic, and personalized patent consulting with an international team of Specialists prepared to analyze your patent portfolio and suggest the most appropriate priority procedure. For more information, please contact us at: brj@clarkemodet.com.