On December 26, 2023, the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office established a significant change in the order of execution of the technical examination of patent applications in Brazil.

So far, the ordering was based on the filing date of the application. However, as from the new definition, the examination of a patent application will begin based on the date the examination is requested. This change aims to provide greater efficiency in the progress of the technical examination of patent applications in Brazil and started on January 1, 2024.

This change is resulted from contributions received during Public Subsidy Submission No. 1 of 2023, promoted by the Patent Division of the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office. As a result, applications that have been filed more recently, but which had their examination requested before applications with an earlier filing date, will have their examination initiated first. Therefore, requesting examination can now be a way for speeding up examination in Brazil, as well.

It is worth noting that, according to the Brazilian legislation, once the examination is required, only amendments with the aim of restricting the scope of the invention will be allowed during the administrative phase.

Therefore, it is extremely important that specific strategies are set case-by-case with regards to the scope of protection and time of analysis of the invention in accordance with the Applicant’s interests.

For more information about the new ordering of the technical examination queue for patent applications in Brazil, do not hesitate to contact us.