Article

January 5, 2018

Strategies to Speed Up Patent Prosecution in the Main Countries of Latin America

By Mónica A. Bonnett | Posse, Herrera, Ruiz

COUNTRYDETAILS
URUGUAY In order to speed up the process the applicant can submit a duly argued request to advance the substantive examination.
VENEZUELA Currently, there is no expedited patent examination mechanism. The PTO has almost 10 years without granting patents or utility models.
ARGENTINA In order to speed up the process the applicant can submit a confirmation of interest.
ECUADOR At present, there are no expedited patent examination official mechanisms different from PPH (Patent Prosecution Highway).
COLOMBIA Currently, there is no expedited patent examination official mechanism. However, in order to speed up the process the following strategies are available:

  • Voluntary amendments: a widely used resource for speeding up patent application prosecution is the filing of a voluntary amendment. By invariably complying with local legislative provisions, the demands of an application can be modified at the discretion of the applicant in order to increase their chances of success before a local background examination.
  • Publication term: Request the early publication of a patent application once it has passed the corresponding formal examination.
  • Renounce terms: Filing a request giving up the term once the official action response is filed before the Patent Office to speed up the examination of the response.

  • Furthermore, Colombian Patent Office is the fastest office in the patent process of America. The office attends not only quicker requests for industrial property, but in a better way and in greater quantity.
    BOLIVIAAt present, there are no expedited patent examination official mechanisms.
    PERUThe PTO has implemented the following strategies:

    “Quick Patent”: A system that allows obtaining patents in a shorter time than regular. Through the correct implementation of this program, utility model applications have been granted in twelve months and patent applications in only eighteen months from its presentation.
    BRAZILThe Brazilian PTO is currently taking around 10 (ten) years to grant a patent of invention.

    In view of that, the BPTO recently has implemented the following strategies:

  • The BPTO recently hired one hundred new Examiners in order to try to reduce the backlog.
  • The BPTO has recently started a temporary procedure, in order to allow the applicant to make an upload of any non-identified petitions during the intern process of the office.

  • Furthermore, there are other ways to try to speed up the merit examination of the patent applications, which are the “fast tracks” procedures.

    These procedures apply if:

      a) The applicant is sixty (60) years old or older;
      b) The object of the patent application is being reproduced by others without the applicant´s permission;
      c) The granting of the patent is a condition of obtaining financial resources from development agencies or national official credit institutions.

    The Brazilian PTO provides other way of priority examination which refers to:

      a) “Green Patents”: Patent applications related to green technologies, which may contribute to fight the global climate change and enable the identification of new technologies, which may be immediately used by the society stimulating their licensing and encouraging innovation in the country.
      b) The “Pilot Project Priority BR”: Patent applications that are able to participate are those initially filed before the BPTO and claimed as a priority the filing in another(s) Patent Office(s). The purpose of this project is to contribute with the work sharing between the Patent Offices to provide, beforehand, the results of search and examination of patent applications to other offices.
      c) Health Products: Patent applications considered strategic, especially for the Unified Health System (SUS), the Brazilian PTO provides priority examination for requests related to products, pharmaceutical processes, equipment and materials related to public health.

    Fast Tracks applicable only for Brazilians:

  • “MPE Patents”: This is a Pilot Project it wherein it is possible to prioritize the examination of patent applications whose applicant is Microenterprise (ME) or Small Business (EPP).
  • “ICT’s Patents”: This Pilot Project, the Science and Technology Institutions can prioritize the examination of their patent applications.
  • MEXICOCurrently, there is no expedited patent examination official mechanism. However, in order to speed up the process there are the following strategies:

  • Voluntary amendments, known as the classic fast track: a widely used resource for accelerating the processing of a patent application in Latin America is the strategic presentation of voluntary amendments. By invariably complying with local legislative provisions, the demands of an application can be modified at the discretion of the applicant in order to increase their chances of success before a local background examination.
  • Practical resources of acceleration: known as means that are implemented in the national offices of industrial property articulating instruments to accelerate the processing of some patent applications.
    • -Request the early publication of a patent application once it has passed the corresponding formal examination.
    • -Submit duly argued requests to advance the substantive examination or where a confirmation of interest in the processing of an application can accelerate its examination.

    Those options are effective and current mechanisms to accelerate the processing of patent applications in Mexico.

    It is also important to mention that those options represent ways of reducing the time for obtaining patents that mean any particular value for the applicants or their potential commercial partners as well as the key for some resolutions of pressing problems. Further, the application of any of these options could be launched in advance, so the promotion and implementation of these mechanisms will always be beneficial for the applicants.
    PARAGUAYAt present, there are no expedited patent examination official mechanisms different from PPH (Patent Prosecution Highway).
    CHILEAt present, there are no expedited patent examination official mechanisms different from PPH (Patent Prosecution Highway).