On December 18, 2023, we conveyed through our newsletter that the BPTO (Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office) published Opinion No. 19/2023, specifying that patent applicants will no longer be allowed to amend their applications during an administrative appeal against the rejection of patent applications. This prohibition extends to the presentation of data supporting technical effects, changes to the specification, and amendments to the claims – even those intended to narrow the scope of the patent application or enhance clarity in the claimed subject matter.

At that juncture, we communicated that the new rule would come into effect on February 12, 2024, and that all pending appeals would be subject to this restriction. We underscored in our newsletter that this measure had led to significant legal uncertainty.

However, following a meeting involving our founding partner, Gabriel Di Blasi, also representing ABAPI (Brazilian Association of Industrial Property Agents), the BPTO announced that new instructions would be published in the Industrial Property Journal of December 26. According to the BPTPO, the applicability of these guidelines will be determined only as of April 2, 2024, thereby correcting the initially established deadline.

We are actively engaged in negotiations with the BPTO regarding this matter and will provide further updates as soon as additional information becomes available, which is expected to February, 2024.