The President of the BRPTO, Júlio César Moreira, presented the results of the 2023 Management Report to federal deputy Vitor Lippi (PSDB/SP) on April 3, as reported in yesterday's news. BRPTO's Coordinator of Institutional Relations in Brasília Michele Sedrez and BRPTO's Administration Director Alexandre Lopes Lourenço also participated in the meeting. The 1-hour meeting took place in the House of Representatives, as stated in the President's official agenda.

In April 2023, Vitor Lippi was designated rapporteur at the Committee of Science and Technology, Communication and Informatics (CCTCI) of the House of Representatives for the Legislative Decree Project (PDL) #466/2022, which deals with the Budapest Treaty. The Project has already been approved by the Committee. The Treaty aims to establish and unify criteria for the deposit of biological material for patent purposes.

In the 2023 Management Report, the BRPTO reached 4,6 years in the decision time for the substantive examination of patent applications (counting from the date of the application protocol). The goal is to reach 2 years' time by 2026. The decision time for fast-tracks (counted from the request) was 10.1 months this year, but the goal is 8 months' time by 2026.

A total of 33.4 thousand decisions were issued for patent applications in 2023, marking a 17.73% decrease compared to the previous year. However, despite this reduction, the agency considers that the number of decisions remains above the number of filings. Consequently, decision time is expected to keep decreasing.

In this sense, it is worth indicating that the number of patent application filings grew 2.9%, while the number of industrial design registrations fell 2.0% compared to 2022.

The BRPTO subjects the achievement of the reduction goals by 2026, which are 2 years' time for deciding patent applications and 1 months' time for deciding on trademarks with no opposition, to the condition of amendding of the Brazilian Patent Statute (Law #9,279/1996). For trademarks, this time is currently 14 months. The agency informs that a first set of proposals to amend the Brazilian Patent Statute has already been sent to the Ministry of Development, Industry, and Foreign Trade (MDIC).

Still under the legislative field, the Report informs that negotiations with parliamentarians were intensified to approve the Complementary Bill (PLP) #143/2019, which amends the Fiscal Responsibility Law, with the aim of prohibiting the limitation of commitment and financial transactions of BRPTO-related expenses. The agency's Pricing Policy was also sent to the MDIC for approval.

The Report also highlights that the Budapest Treaty on the international recognition of the microorganisms deposit for the purposes of the patent procedure is still being processed in the House of Representatives, more specifically in the Committee on Constitution and Justice, and Citizenship (CCJC).

Access BRPTO’s 2023 Management Report in full.