The BPTO has launched a joint project with Uruguay’s National Directorate of Industrial Property and Software Registry (DNPI) to carry out collaborative examinations of patent applications.

The initiative is based on a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the two institutions in 2026 and, in this initial phase, covers technologies related to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and natural products sectors.

Applications filed through the PCT system, with corresponding applications in the patent families of both countries and filing dates at the INPI between 2021 and 2022, have been selected for the project.

The cooperation is expected to help accelerate the start of the technical examination of these applications, without changing the Institute’s regular patent examination process.

The initiative highlights the importance of international collaboration as a tool to promote greater efficiency in the patent system and to keep pace with the development of innovation-intensive sectors.