An Update On The BRPTO's Plan To Combat Patent Backlog In Brazil

Backlog is the first word that comes to an applicant's mind when considering Brazil for patent filings. Indeed, at its worst, official statistics indicated an average pendency time of 10,9 years at the Brazilian Patent Office (INPI) from filing of a patent application to patent grant. This is still by far the worst problem the country faces in terms of patent protection.

However, the Brazilian Patent Office has since launched an ambitious "Plan to Combat Backlog of Patents" in Brazil, aiming to reduce the backlog by 80% by the end of 2021, which would correspond to an average term of grant to approximately two years from the request for examination.

The INPI implemented the plan last August for all applications filed before December 31, 2016 where search or examination results are available from foreign patent offices in corresponding patent applications in the same family. That covered around 80% of applications pending in August 2019.