Today, April 30, 2024, the BRPTO published a Notice in the Official Gazette #2782 to inform that it has yet to address most of the issues associated with the implementation of the new IT system, as previously reported in our Client Alert on April 2, 2024. The new estimated deadline is May 31, 2024.

According to the Notice, the examination of novelty of originality for industrial designs remains on hold. The BRPTO will provide an update on the estimated timeframe for normalization as soon as possible.

Industrial design applications filed between December 15, 2023, and January 4, 2024, are still waiting for formal examination. The new estimated deadline for solving issues is also May 31, 2024. The BRPTO clarified that problems stem from an instability issue during data migration between old and new IT systems in December 2023, resulting in some data not being imported. Applications filed since January 5, 2024 were not affected and are undergoing normal examination.

Despite the issues, the BRPTO assures the integrality of the applications, as well as their respective filing dates.

The BRPTO also aims to resolve the instabilities that still hinder the viewing of information and the availability of certificates through the Buscaweb system for industrial designs by May 31, 2024. Certificates that were previously accessible on Buscaweb, published in Official Gazettes #2244 to #2757, can be viewed in the system once again.

In the same Official Gazette, the BRPTO also published Ordinance #17/2024, which further extends the suspension of deadlines for filing divisional applications (BR 32) in response to office actions. The new suspended period now encompasses from May 1, 2024, to May 31, 2024.

We will be glad to assist you with more information on this matter at industrialdesign@lickslegal.com.