Brazil and the United Kingdom start a PPH Pilot Project in August
In the Official Gazette n° 2481, of July 24, 2018, the Brazilian PTO published Resolution PR No. 222, instituting the BPTO-UKIPO PPH Pilot Project. The BPTO-UKIPO PPH Pilot Project will be effective for a period of two years as from August 1st , 2018 when the BPTO will analyze up to 100 requests per year, summing up 200 requests. Applicants will only be eligible to participate in the project with one application per month, except for the last month of the project.
Patent applications requesting priority examination using the BPTO-UKIPO PPH Pilot Project must encompass claims directed to the technical fields of Biotechnology (C07g, C07K, C12M, C12N, C12P, C12Q, C12R, C12S, except for A61K), Electrical apparatuses and machines, energy (F21#, H01B, H01C, H01F, H01G, H01H, H01J, H01K, H01M, H01R, H01T, H02#, H05B, H05C, H05F, H99Z), Audiovisual technology (G09F, G09G, G11B, H04N-003, H04N-005, H04N-009, H04N-013, H04N-015, H04N-017, H04R, H04S, H05K), Telecommunications (G08C, H01P, H01Q, H04B, H04H, H04J, H04K, H04M, H04N-001, H04N-007, H04N-011, H04Q), Digital communication (H04L), Basic processes of communication (H03#), Computing technology (G06#, except for G06Q, G11C, G10L), Information technology methods for management (G06Q), Semiconductors (H01L).
The patent applications that are eligible to participate in the Pilot Project are those simultaneously belonging to the same patent family of which at least the first patent application was filed with the BPTO or UKIPO, if it is a PCT application - BR/RO or UK/RO; and the UKIPO acting as Office of Earlier Examination (OEE) allowed a patent application from the same patent family.
Other eligibility requirements are as follows:
(i) the patent application must have been filed within more than 18 months or at least the anticipated publication must have been requested or, in case it is an international application, it must have been published by OMPI; and
(ii) the examination must have already been requested.
Differently from other PPH Pilot Projects, in case the application is a divisional, it will be necessary to request the priority examination for all divisional applications as well as the parent application.
