The Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BPTO) published, on December 12, 2023, a change in the order of patent applications to be examined in an attempt to expedite their prosecution.

As of January 1, 2024, the BPTO will perform substantive examination of patent applications based on the order of the examination request date, rather than the chronological order of the filing date, as is the current practice.

According to the Brazilian Law once a patent application is filed the applicant has up to 36 months to request its examination, and voluntary amendments to the claims are allowed up until the examination request.

With the new order, the BPTO intends to implement an effective measure to expedite the prosecution of patent applications, irrespective of any changes in the law, also encouraging applicants to be more precise in drafting the claims.

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