The Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BPTO) continues expanding international cooperation through Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) agreements. Starting in April, the BPTO will initiate the second phase of the PPH agreement with the Japan Patent Office (JPO), which will last until April of 2021, according to an agreement signed by representatives of both patent offices on January 16, 2019 in Tokyo.
Through the PPH agreement, a patent application already granted in Brazil may have its examination fast-tracked in the Japan (and vice-versa). In this new phase, the PPH between the BPTO and JPO will admit up to 200 patent applications in each country. Furthermore, the second phase of the agreement will expand the technical fields accepted, including: energy, machinery, audiovisual technology, telecommunications, digital communication, computing, semiconductors, polymers, metallurgy and materials, agrochemicals, microorganisms, and enzymes.
The BPTO has been issuing final decisions in connection with applications related to the PPH program in approximately 180 days.
The full press statement is available, in Portuguese, at http://www.inpi.gov.br/noticias/inpi-e-jpo-renovam-pph-entre-brasil-e-japao/view.