BRAZIL, COLOMBIA AND PERU
ADVANCES IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PPH
AS FROM JANUARY 1st, 2016, THE PPH AGREEMENT IN BETWEEN PERU AND SPAIN HAS ENTRY INTO FORCE. THE PURPOSE IS TO ACCELERATE THE PATENT APPLICATIONS PROSECUTION IN SAID COUNTRY. THE BRAZILIAN PATENT OFFICE ESTABLISHES THE PPH TO ACCELERATE THE SUBSTANTIVE EXAMINATION FOR THE INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS. THE COLOMBIAN PATENT OFFICE AND THE EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE (EPO) HAVE SIGNED AN AGREEMENT TO IMPLEMENT THE PPH.
From now on, the patent applicants in Peru who have obtained a favorable decision in Spain for a patent with the same claims may request the patent prosecution highway, based in the agreement signed by the Peruvian Patent Office and the Spanish Patent Office. Said agreement will be in force for two years, with a two-year automatic renewal period.
The Brazilian Patent Office has issued Resolution No. 44 and 45 of 2015, which seeks to reduce the technical requisites of the examinations of the industrial designs. The Brazilian authority will reject the applications when a previous requisite is not satisfactory complied with and will make the amendment of the application´s title when it is not suitable. The INPI will be focused in the filed figures. The program will be in force for two years.
The Colombian Patent Office and the European Patent Office (EPO) have signed an agreement to implement a PPH pilot program. The purpose of this program is the acceptance of EPO´s decisions in the Colombian patent applications prosecutions in which the claims chapter is the same as the one granted by the EPO. Both authorities have agreed to exchange information of the status of the patent applications in order to be studied by the countries.