The European Patent Office finalizes PPH deal with Brazil

The European Patent Office (EPO) has agreed to the launch of a Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) programme with the National Institute of Industrial Property of Brazil (INPI). On October 4th, 2017, the EPO announced that the PPH arrangement will ensure the efficient processing of patent applications and encouragement of innovation. The programme will run for an initial 2 years and will look to be implemented sometime in 2018. 

The PPH programme allows applicants to request an accelerated examination procedure for an application if a corresponding application has been reviewed by a different office. This fast-track system allows an Intellectual Property Office to make reference to the work products of corresponding offices during a substantive examination. The idea is to make the application more efficient by encouraging cooperation between intellectual offices and thus more enticing to people considering protecting their Intellectual Property.

The programme comes as a response to the close relationship between the EPO and INPI that has developed in recent times. Trade between Europe and Brazil thrived in 2016 and will look to benefit further by closer co-operation between the offices in the coming years. Brazil has also entered into PPH agreements with the Intellectual Property Offices of the USA, Japan and a number of South American countries. Meanwhile, the EPO has similar relationships with the USA in addition to offices across Asia and parts of South America. This shows that there is a real intent to promote the protection of Intellectual Property in Europe and South America and that we can expect both the EPO and INPI to develop relationships with other offices in the future. 

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