Brazil renews patent agreements with US and EPO
Brazil and the US have expanded their Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) agreement, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has confirmed.
The expansion of the programme allows for applications for more industries and higher annual caps, the USPTO said.
The pilot PPH scheme aims to allow for quicker expedition of patents that have already been registered in either Brazil or the US.
Brazil and the US agreed to launch the pilot scheme in 2015 with the aim of bringing down delays in processing applications.
Patent applicants who have enjoyed a positive ruling on their applications at the Brazilian National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) can apply for accelerated consideration for the patent at the USPTO, and vice versa.
The INPI recently signed a strategic partnership agreement with the European Patent Office (EPO), which saw the renewal of the offices’ own PPH agreement.
Campinos said the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two offices should “benefit both local innovators and international patent applicants, who can increasingly expect to find similar conditions for protecting their inventions around the world."
Under the terms of the MoU, the PPH between the EPO and INPI renewed on December 1.
The PPH scheme is open to applications in all fields of technology, the EPO said.
"Brazil is a key partner for the EPO and an important market for European companies," said António Campinos, EPO president.
Cláudio Vilar Furtado, president of the INPI, said that both Brazil and Europe shared a recognition that “patents are a central element of an innovation-driven business environment”.
Last month, WIPR reported that India had struck a PPH agreement with Japan, the first agreement of its kind between the two countries.
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