The Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BRPTO) and the Japan Patent Office (JPO) formalized this Wednesday 16th January in Tokyo the agreement to renew the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program between Brazil and Japan. Liane Lage, Director of Patents, Computer programs and Topographies of Integrated circuits of the INPI, and Susumu Iwasaki, Director of JPO’s Third Division of Patents (Chemistry and Life and Material Sciences) were present during the ceremony.
Source: BRPTO
The PPH’s second phase between Brazil and Japan, starting on April 1st, will last two years or until both offices accept 200 requests in total. The INPI will newly accept PPH requests for applications in technical fields including macromolecular chemistry, metallurgy and materials, agrochemicals, microorganisms, and enzymes, in addition to IT technologies and mechanical engineering such as automobile-related technologies which were previously approved in the pilot program. This addition of technical fields means that the percentage of applications eligible for PPH requests of the total applications filed with the INPI from Japan will increase from approximately 33% to 56%. [Link] [Link]
