BPTO´S data show active government participation in priority examination requests involving patent applications related to Covid.19
On April 03, 2020, The Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BPTO) issued Ordinance No. 149, which modified Resolution No. 239/2019 in order to allow the priority processing of patent applications involving technologies related to diagnosis, prophylaxis and treatment of COVID-19. Requests may be filed by Government (via official letter from the Ministry of Health) or patent applicants/interested third parties (via petition).
BPTO’s official data, published on June 05, 2020, show active participation of Government in this priority examination modality. Among the 82 requests, 62 (75.61%) were filed via official letter, wherein 3 refers to drug favipiravir, 6 are related to remdesivir, 9 involves sarilumabe and 44 to tocilizumabe. Most of these priority examination requests (49) have already been allowed by BPTO, and only 8 have been rejected.
Among many possibilities of pharmaceutical products, processes, devices and/or materials for diagnosis, prophylaxis and treatment of COVID-19 included in the priority examination category, most of the allowed requests (56%) refer to technologies involving chemical compounds. Moreover, regarding the prosecution of patent applications, around 48% is under technical examination by BPTO, or being analyzed by ANVISA for obtaining prior approval – requirement stablished by Article 229 of Law 9,269/1996 (LPI).
Data related to priority examination can be accessed at https://www.gov.br/inpi/pt-br/servicos/patentes/tramite-prioritario.