The Center for International Intellectual Property Studies (CEIPI) is pleased to organise, in collaboration with the French Association of Industrial Property Specialists (ASPI) and the Brazilian law firm Licks Attorneys, a webconference on the theme "The duration of Brazilian patents under tension".
This conference will take place online on ZOOM on 12 April 2021 from from 5:30 pm to 7 pm.
Speakers:
- Jean-Marc Deltorn, Senior Researcher, CEIPI
- Karlo Fonseca Tinoco, Lawyer, Licks Attorneys (São Paulo), Doctor of Law.
- Pierick Rousseau, Director of Industrial Property, Pierre Fabre Group
The conference will be held in French and will be moderated by Yann Basire, Associate Professor, University of Strasbourg, Director of the French Section and Director General of CEIPI.
Registration is free but mandatory by clicking on this link: https://lickslegal.zoom.us/webinar/register/6416176659464/WN_Yb_41q9wQu6UO8JUxmqxJg
Summary:
Due to the historical delays in the examination of Brazilian patent applications, as well as the lack of protective measures for the patent owner, the Brazilian legislator adopted a dual mechanism for determining the duration of patents. Article 40 of the Brazilian Industrial Property Law provides for a term of protection of 20 years from the filing date. However, the only paragraph of the said article establishes that a patent shall not have a term of less than 10 years from the date of grant. The duration of patent protection is thus determined by whether or not there is a delay of more than ten years on the part of the Brazilian Patent Ofice (INPI) in examining the patent application.
After almost 20 years of existence of this mechanism, the Brazilian Supreme Court was seized by the Attorney General of the Republic to rule on a potential violation of the Brazilian Constitution by this mechanism. The mechanism guaranteeing a minimum protection of 10 years after the grant of a patent was intended by the legislator to be the exception to the system. However, the constant delays of the INPI have resulted in more than 47% of the patents currently valid in Brazil having their terms fixed at 10 years from the date of grant. The Supreme Court was to rule on this case on 7 April 2021, thus defining the future of not only the patents, but also the thousands of patent applications that have been waiting for more than 10 years at the INPI.
