Brazil: Patent

IP Bridge and Dolby have filed lawsuits against Chinese electronics manufacturer Skyworth and several Brazilian companies in Rio de Janeiro State Court over alleged infringement of AVC standard-essential patents. A court-appointed expert has now issued findings on whether Skyworth's televisions infringe the asserted IP Bridge patent and whether it qualifies as essential to the AVC standard.

Eduardo Hallak and Rafaella Oliveira of Licks Attorneys explain how pharmaceutical companies can build stronger and more enforceable patent portfolios in Brazil by going beyond composition-of-matter patents and strategically protecting incremental innovations.

The Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office has opened a public consultation on new regulations that would introduce fast-track processing options for industrial design applications, a mechanism not currently available in this category. The proposed framework includes priority pathways for elderly applicants, persons with disabilities, startups, litigation-related cases, and applications tied to patent filings or government permits, alongside a pilot project with quota-based allocation.

Brazil's Committee on Industry, Commerce, and Services has issued a favorable opinion on legislation addressing patent ownership for AI-assisted inventions. The proposed amendment to the Brazilian Patent Statute would establish that patent rights for inventions developed with artificial intelligence assistance belong to the individual or legal entity providing the economic or technical means for development, while maintaining that AI systems themselves cannot hold patent rights due to lack of legal personho

The Brazilian House of Representatives is considering legislation that would introduce a Patent Term Adjustment mechanism to compensate patent holders for administrative delays at the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office. The proposed framework establishes specific time limits for examination actions and would extend patent terms by one day for each day of unjustified delay attributable to the Office, with a maximum extension of five years.

The Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BRPTO) and Peru's INDECOPI have launched a collaborative examination initiative for patent applications in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and natural products. This partnership, formalized through a 2025 Bilateral Cooperation Memorandum, will provide expedited technical examination for qualifying PCT applications that entered the national phase between October 2022 and July 2023.

The Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office has released its final draft of Examination Guidelines for New Uses of Known Products after nearly a year of consultation with the patent community.

Brazil's life sciences regulatory framework combines centralized federal oversight through ANVISA with a comprehensive legal structure governing medicinal products, biologicals, medical devices...

Brazil's grace period provision allows inventors to disclose their inventions up to 12 months before filing a patent application without jeopardizing patentability. However, applicants face significant evidential challenges when proving the disclosure originated from the inventor, particularly when documents are authored by employers or third parties, and must navigate examiner discretion in the absence of clear regulatory guidelines.