The Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BRPTO) recently signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperating in the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program with the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (OEPM). This partnership in the PPH program will be valid until December 31st, 2024.
It is important to emphasize that, through the PPH, participants will be able to use the result of the examination of the patent application at the BRPTO to speed up the analysis in Spain, and they can also use the result of the examination in Spain to speed up the analysis at the BRPTO, for patent cases claiming a Spanish priority or a priority of any of the partner offices that also have an agreement with Brazil (listed below). It is also possible to expedite the examination through a favorable IPRP/IPER emitted by a search authority that has an agreement with Brazil.
Finally, the PPH program has signed agreements with the following countries/regions (until this moment):
a) the United States
b) European Patent Office
c) Japan
d) China
e) Austria
f) Sweden
g) the United Kingdom
h) Denmark
i) South Korea
j) Singapore
k) Portugal
l) France
We will keep you duly informed of any further developments on this matter.
In the meantime, please contact us at brj@clarkemodet.com to assist you regarding this matter or to solve any questions you may have.