News

Brazilian Supreme Court will judge 'pipeline' patents

20/07/2018
An action that questions the constitutionality of the legal provisions dealing with pipeline patents should be tried in September. Also called import or revalidation patents, they were granted to patented products abroad, but these patents were already in the public domain.
The justification of the Brazilian General Attorney of the Republic (PGR) is that these legal provisions allowed patents granted abroad to be automatically applied in Brazil without substantial verification of the qualities and innovations of the product, with a maximum duration of 20 years. More than 1,100 patent applications were granted automatically in 1997. But, today, they have fallen into the public domain.
One of the arguments about unconstitutionality is precisely in its legal nature, since it seeks to make patentable, to the detriment of the principle of novelty, that which is already in the public domain, promoting the legislator, thus, a kind of expropriation of a common good of the people without any constitutional protection.
According to such experts, pipeline patents favored foreign multinationals that privatized – without paying anything to the treasury – technology that was already in the public domain.
Tha judgement would be important to show that the Brazilian Supreme Court understands that it is not possible to enact a law and give patents to technologies that were already old, and already known, in this way, it would be possible to recognize the nullity of patents and the consequent return of money that was sent abroad.
Others claim that these patents are constitutional since all necessary requirements for them to be valid were fulfilled. The revalidation regime abroad is not an exclusivity of Brazil. Any decision to the contrary would generate much legal uncertainty, according to other experts.
The official publication about this case can be found here
News

Brazil ranks 64th in global innovation ranking

13/07/2018
Brazil has gained a better position in the world ranking of innovation organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in partnership with Cornell University and the Insead business school. The country ranks 64th out of 126 listed economies.  Compared to the 18 Latin American and Caribbean economies, Brazil appears in the sixth position. Switzerland is the leader in the ranking, followed by Netherlands, Sweden, United Kingdom, Singapore, the USA, Finland, Denmark Germany and Ireland.
According to the publication, the Brazilian raise, which went from the 69th position to the current 64th, was due to an increase in research and development expenses, high technology imports and exports and the quality of national scientific information. In this topic, the study emphasized the materials published by the University of São Paulo (USP), Campinas (Unicamp) and also the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ).
Methodology
The Global Innovation Index (GII) ranks 126 economies and classify based on 80 indicators, from patent fees to the development of smartphone applications, education spending, and scientific and technical publications.
You can read the official publication at the WIPO’s website here
News

BPTO's production grows strongly in the first semester of 2018

09/07/2018
During the first half of 2018, the BPTO’s production grew strongly compared to the same period of 2017. This increase also allowed the total number of decisions between January and June of this year to be above the current demand of the same period, leading to a reduction in waiting time.
Considering only grants, the most significant increase in the first half of 2018 was in industrial design, which reached 111.9%, going from 2,355 to 4,990 grants.
In the area of patents, the grants between January and June of 2018 grew 81.7%, rising from 3,164 to 5,749. In trademarks, the number of grants was 71.6% higher, increasing from 49,598 to 85,099.
In addition, the number of registration of computer programs increased from 2,670 to 3,270, with a 22.5% variation.
When considering the total number of decisions of the BPTO (grants, rejections, and filings), the numbers are equally expressive. These results show that, with more decisions than requests in the first half of this year, the tendency is to reduce the stock and, therefore, the waiting time until the grant.
In this comparison between decisions and applications from January to June 2018, trademark decisions (179,185) were 82.3% higher than the requests in the period (98,297). In patents, decisions (19,884) exceeded applications (13,574) by 46.5%.
With the implementation of the electronic application, the computer program service also had an excellent result: production (3,270) was 199.7% higher than the 1,091 applications.
In industrial design, the total decisions reached 6,962, or 144.5% above the 2,848 applications in the first half of the year.
*Translated and adapted from the BPTO’s official web page. You can read more here
News

Brazilian Institute Butantan will export dengue vaccine to the world

06/07/2018
With a patent filed in the United States, Butantan Institute will be able to export the vaccine technology to the Northern Hemisphere, that is currently facing dengue cases. In this way, the project will gain even more international visibility.
According to the Institute’s director, the vaccine development started in 2007, but the result of the patent came after almost a decade in 2015. Having already passed through the steps that analyze its safety, conducted with about 14,000 volunteers, the vaccine developed is in its third phase to verify its effectiveness. The director says that the research is already becoming a product and hopes that by 2020 it will be available to the population.
The success of the vaccine also comes from the fact that around R$ 300 million (around US$70 million) was invested by the public sector. The importance of this type of investment is highlighted by the Institute, since there are many patent registrations in Brazil that cannot evolve due to lack of financial resources.
*translated and adapted from Sao Paulo University webpage. The original publication can be found here
News

Brazilian PTO makes available digital collection of its official bulletin

03/07/2018
In order to improve processes and procedures, the Brazilian PTO is making available more than one thousand editions of the Industrial Property Official Bulletin, including number one. The publications can be found on the BPTO’s official website.
Thus, the Institute increases the volume of technical information available and also facilitates the interaction with users.
This work has also a historical value, since the digital collection, composed mostly, of unique copies of the Bulletin filed at the Institute. In the first copy, dated April 4, 1972, for example, it is possible to observe the economic scenario of the time, the importance of technology transfer policy and the reasons for non-patenting of chemical, pharmaceutical and atomic nucleus.

*translated and adapted from the BPTO’s official web page. You can read the original publication (in Portuguese) here

News

Pilot program for the issuance of pre-examination opinions is extended by the BPTO

28/06/2018

The Brazilian PTO issued an official publication on June 26, 2018, in its official Bulletin #2477, to inform the extension of the pilot program for the issuance of pre-examination opinions to expedite the substantive examination of patent applications filed up to 2016 at the Office.

In this pre-examination opinion, the BPTO may issue an Office Action, listing the foreign patent applications to be considered for that matter. After its publication, the applicant will have 60 days to reply to the office action, amending its application to comply with the objections and to the BPTO’s current guidelines.
The official publication is available at the BPTO’s website and can be downloaded here
News

Amazon plant jambu has 433 patents around the world

22/06/2018

The substance “espilantol”, extracted from the jambu that causes the sensation of numbness in the mouth, is a focus of interest of researchers. Jambu is found in the Amazon and widely used in cooking and may still be an option for a new anesthetic, especially for dentistry.
The plant, which has several other medicinal properties is studied by researchers and academics from around the world. Patent registrations are made to preserve these studies.
According to the Brazilian Patents and Trademarks Office (BPTO), there are 433 applications and registrations of patents related to jambu, requested not only through the BPTO but also by other patent institutions around the world required by research centers, companies and organizations.
Japan has 137 applications and patents granted using the plant, equivalent to 32.16%. Followed by the US, which has 102 applications and patents (23.94%), France with 55 (12.91%), Spain 36 (8.45%) and China 26 (6.10%). Brazil registers 15 patents and applications that are being analyzed related to jambu, a percentage of 3.52%, and Germany with 10 applications and patents (2.35%) and Great Britain with seven (1.64%).
*Translated and adapted from a Brazilian website. The original publication (in Portuguese) can be found here

News

BPTO grants Geographical Indication for Socol Product

19/06/2018

The BPTO granted on June 12 the Geographical Indication (GI) registration, for the socol product, a pork sausage produced by descendants of Italian immigrants in the area of Venda Nova do Imigrante (ASSOCOL), in the state of Espirito Santo.
The grant was published in the BPTO’s official Bulletin No. 2475 on behalf of Association of Socol Producers of Venda Nova do Imigrante (ASSOCOL).
The name socol is related to the traditional form of production of the sausage: tied in strips that refer to the vertebrae of the pig’s neck, it was called “so colli”, which, in the dialect of Veneto, the Italian region of origin of many immigrants, is how they called the bones of the neck. Over time, in Brazil, the name of the product was derived for socol.
Currently produced with pork loin, salt, black pepper and garlic, socol not only rescues the culture of immigrants, but also values the traditional know-how of the product. Produced initially for the families’ own consumption, it has gradually become a profitable activity and is considered one of the symbols of local culture and identity, stimulating even agrotourism.
The area to be considered as an indication of origin is located in the northeastern part of the city of Venda Nova do Imigrante, located in the State of Espirito Santo, covering the following regions: Alto Bananeiras, Bananeiras, Lavrinhas, Sede, Tapera, Alto Tapera, Santo Antonio da Serra and Providence.
*Translated and adapted from the BPTO’s official web page. The official publication can be found here

News

BPTO started the second phase of STI pilot project

13/06/2018

The pilot project STI Patents entered its second phase, which will receive up to 100 requests for priority examination. By the initiative, it is possible to prioritize the examination of patent applications filef by Science and Technology Institutions (STIs).
The purpose of the BPTO with the project is to stimulate and facilitate the insertion in the market of innovative products and services developed by STIs.
Each applicant may request the entry of one application per month, except in the last month of the project.
This phase will be active up to May 31, 2019, according to official notice published by the BPTO in its official bulletin nº 2473, of May 29, 2018.
*translated and adapted from the BPTO’s official web page

News

Software Registration takes only 7 days for grant using the BPTO's online application system

01/06/2018
Since September 12, 2017, when the new online system for computer program registration has been launched, users rely on a more advanced, secure and fully computerized service. In order to reduce the exchange rate, the average registration reduced from 1,200 days for up to 7 business days. The use of the digital signature also offers greater legal insurance for the user.
The e-RPC system came to reduce the bureaucracy of public services promoted by the Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade, and Services (MDIC). In Brazil, the computer program registration is carried out by the BPTO and copyrighted in 176 countries that are part of the Berne Convention, which is valid for 50 years.
With the evolution of IT and the substantial increase of investments in the area, there is an increased demand for software protection, given the competition and the unauthorized structure of the intangible asset.
According to the 2017 Brazilian Software and Services market study, launched by the Brazilian Association of Software Companies (ABES) in partnership with IDC (International Data Corporation), points out investments of US $ 38 billion in IT hardware, software and services in Brazil during the year 2017, which makes the country today occupy the 9th place in the world ranking. The survey also indicates a growth of 4.5% in investments compared to 2016, with a highlight of 4.1% in 2018.
*Translated and adapted from the BPTO’s official page. The original publication (in Portuguese) can be found here