Amid a battle to reduce the patent backlog, the BPTO (Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office) is already dealing with the post-backlog, according to Liane Lage, Director of Patents, Computer Programs, and Topographies of Integrated Circuits (DIRPA) of the institute. She was a guest at the meeting of ABPI’s Patents Study Committee that happened on May 6th.
Liane was welcomed by the Study Committee coordinators Ana Cristina Müller, Ana Cláudia Mamede Carneiro and José Eduardo Filgueiras. “We are preparing for the post-backlog, with many actions, database, and training”, said the DIRPA Director.
The goal established by the BPTO board in July 2019 of reducing, by the end of 2021, at least 80% of the patent backlog has reached 60% of the intended result so far: from the initial batch of 149,912 applications, 98,103 orders have already been eliminated, all published with code 6.21, a dispatch issued to those who had a search available from another office. “We are looking for several ways to safely reach the 80%”, said Liane Lage.
Lage also noted that, besides proposing to reduce the backlog, shortly, the BPTO expects to examine patent applications within three years from the application date. According to her, the applications filed in 2017 are being examined this year and must be decided by 2022. “It is like that. We hit the ground running”, she analogized. To fulfill these goals, the BPTO will use the previous examination, that is, the search system made by other international offices, which, by the way, has significantly reduced the patent backlog. “What works cannot go back anymore”, explained Lage. “Taking advantage of the search of other offices has made a significant contribution to accelerating exams and will continue to be used in 6.23. However, the examiner has the autonomy to complement the search”.
The event was exclusive to ABPI members.
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