As informed in our Client Alert of December 12, 2023,‍ the BRPTO announced it will change the queue for substantive examination from the filing date to the date of the request for examination. This new ordering procedure should be implemented as of January 1, 2024.

‍The Directorate of Patents, Computer Programs, and Topographies of Integrated Circuits (DIRPA) statement did not inform if the 43,097 duly filed, regularly pending patent applications for which the examination request has already been filed will maintain their position on the queue or if they will be reassigned starting on January 1, 2024.

Licks Attorneys has reached for the BRPTO to ask if the patent applications for which a request for examination had already been filed on or before January 1, 2024, would be reassigned to the new queue for substantive examination.

The BRPTO stated that “From January 1, 2024, all patent applications distributed for technical examination will be ordered by the date of the examination request, however, the BRPTO will still publish an Ordinance to detail the proposed modification”.

For more information on said publication, please contact us at patents@lickslegal.com. We will be glad to assist you.