(BRPTO’s IP gazette of June 13th, 2017)The BRPTO published today, June 13th, 2017, Rule #193/2017 which establishes the use of priorart search reports issued by International Searching Authorities (ISA) and International Preliminary Examining Authorities (IPEA), hereinafter “reference offices” (Annex I), for patent applications filed under the PCT Agreement.According to Article 3 of Rule #193/2017, prior art search reports, statutorily established by Article 35(1) of the Brazilian Patent Statute (Law #9,279/96), for patent applications claiming priority of an earlier application, which came from a reference office, shall incorporate the prior art searches carried out by the respective reference office into them. The sole paragraph of Article 3 establishes that no supplementary searches shall be carried out.This procedure aims at expediting the examination of applications by increasing the examiners’ productivity at circa 20%, as indicated in Article 5 of Rule #193/2017.According to Article 6 of Rule #193/2017, applications (i) for which third party observations have been submitted; (ii) under substantive examination; (iii) accepted under a fast-track examination program; or (iv) at the appeal stage, shall not benefit from the provisions of this Rule.Rule #193/2017 shall be effective as of August 12, 2017, as established by Rule #196/2017, issued on June 20, 2017.The original Portuguese version of Rule #193/2017 is available here and the English version of Rule #193/2017 can be downloaded here. The Japanese version will be available soon. For more information, please contact info@lickslegal.com1 Article 35. At the time of the substantive examination, a search report and an opinion will be prepared with respect to:I. the patentability of the application; II. the adaptation of the application to the nature of protection claimed;III. the reformulation of the application or the division thereof; or IV. technical requirements.ANNEX IAuthorities recognized as International Searching and InternationalPreliminary Examining Authorities under the PCTATAustrian Patent OfficeAUAustralian Patent OfficeBRNational Institute of Industrial Property (Brazil)CACanadian Intellectual Property OfficeCLNational Institute of Industrial Property of ChileCNState Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of ChinaEGEgyptian Patent OfficeEPEuropean Patent Office (EPO)ESSpanish Patent and Trademark OfficeFIFinish Patent and Registration Office (PRH)ILIsrael Patent OfficeINIndian Patent OfficeJPJapan Patent OfficeKRKorean Intellectual Property OfficeRUFederal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks (Russian Federation)SESwedish Patent and Registration OfficeSGIntellectual Property Office of SingaporeTRTurkish Patent and Trademark OfficeUAState Intellectual Property Service of UkraineUSUnited States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)XNNordic Patent InstituteXVVisegrad Patent InstituteSource: http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/access/isa_ipea_agreements.html