Brazilian Supreme Court has finally put an end on the constitutionality judgement of the patent extended term provision
The Brazilian Supreme Court has finally defined, on May 12, the particulars of the decision that considered the sole paragraph of Article 40 of the Brazilian IP Law as unconstitutional. This legal provision allowed a minimum term of 10 years for patents, counted from the granting date, as a compensation for patentees in cases where there was an excessive delay of the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BPTO) to exam and grant the patents.
The Supreme Court decided that all patents granted from now on will be valid for 20 years counted from its filing date. The patents that have already been granted with the benefits of such extended term are not affected by such decision, except for the group of patents related to pharmaceutical products and processes as well as equipment and materials for use in healthcare, which will have their validity reduced for the basic regular term of 20 years counted from the filing date.
Source: Lexology - Read news here | Download PDF
