Speeding up the patent process in Brazil

Brazilian laws governing patents have undergone a major change in recent months. Under previous rules, all patents in the country were valid for 20 years counting from the date of filing, or ten years from the date of approval — whichever comes last. This provision was originally brought in to mitigate the negative effects of delays in the patent analysis process, which in many cases can take well over ten years.

But this rule was challenged in a Supreme Court case and, in May, justices decided that the validity of patents ten years after approval was unconstitutional, essentially neutering the law.

In the aftermath of the decision, Brazil’s patent authorities assessed how this legal change would be implemented. The revocation of ten-year deadlines after approval would not apply to patents already in force — with the exception of pharmaceutical and medical patents — and those subject to lawsuits questioning the ten-year deadline provision.

When deciding on the matter, Supreme Court justices noted that the ten-year term of patents after approval was purely...