Written by CGCOM Tuesday, July 31, 2012, at 5:21 p.m.
The Project of Preliminary Review has been launched by the BPTO this year, and it will be a great advantage for the entrepreneur who needs to immediately ascertain whether or not the patent will be granted. In fact, the patent applicant will receive a preliminary analysis of his patent within three months. The opinion on applications that were filed in the beginning of the project (in May), should be available still in August.
Even though it is not a definitive examination, after all until the final analysis the patent application has to go through a set of deadlines and wait in the queue of requests, the preliminary opinion serves as an orientation to the BPTO. After the signalization that the patent is likely to be granted, the entrepreneur or inventor will feel more secure to negotiate its technology.
Furthermore, in an attempt to promote the Brazilian economy, both national and non-residents who have filed the first application in Brazil, can actually join the project. Patent applications filed between 2009 and 2012 have already been included and will receive this signalization before the final examination of older applications, which ultimately demonstrates the advantage of the project.
In order to request a preliminary opinion, the applicant must complete a specific form, pay the fee of R$ 1,185.00 (which is reduced to R$ 475.00 in the case of small enterprises and other groups that enjoy a reduced tariff) and fulfill the following requirements:
• The publication of application must have already been notified in the Industrial Property Journal, otherwise it will have to be anticipated;
• The payment of annual fees related to the patent application must have been made;
• A Preliminary Review of the application must be requested by the applicant;
• The technical examination of the patent application should not have been published in the Industrial Property Journal yet;
• The technical examination of the patent application cannot have been put in abeyance due to an office action to fulfill patent conditions;
• The granting of priority review of the patent application cannot have been published in the Industrial Property Journal yet;
• The patent application must have been filed at the BPTO not later than May 15, 2012;
When requesting a preliminary opinion, the applicant will receive a brief report on the search, highlighting the patentability requirements, as well as a preliminary report on the evaluation of the specific requirements of novelty, inventiveness or inventive act and industrial application.
For more information, please write to opiniaopreliminar@inpi.gov.br or access the BPTO’s website(Menu Patente/Opinião Preliminar).
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