On December 19, 2023, Ordinance INPI/PR No. 52 was published, regulating procedures related to the control of payment of annual fees, shelving of patent applications, and extinction of patents, as well as the restoration of patent applications and patents, in accordance with Articles 84 to 87 of Law No. 9,279/96 (BIPL). Many of these procedures formalize practices that were already in use by the BPTO.
The main changes pertain to the possibility of:
- Advanced payment within the 3 months preceding the ordinary term for payment of the annual fee, provided that previous annuities are settled; and
- Using the payment of a current annuity to settle an overdue annuity.
Furthermore, this ordinance establishes that a shelved patent application or an extinct patent may be restored, following the provisions of Article 87 of the BIPL, only by its applicant or holder, within three months from the shelving publication of the application or the extinction of the patent, provided that it is conditioned on the payment of (i) the restoration fee for the application, patent, or certificate of addition of invention, and (ii) of the overdue annuities, or the due supplements. The applicant or holder may also request restoration even before the publication of the shelving of the application or the extinction of the patent.
Ordinance INPI/PR No. 52 will come into effect on January 1, 2024, and revokes Resolution No. 113/2013, as well as Articles 1 (item II) and 5 of Ordinance No. 302/2020.
For further information, please contact us at patents@murtagoyanes.com.br.