Green patents in Brazil

13 April 2023

Sustainable development is currently a challenge for all sectors of the world economy, being responsible for high investments in clean and alternative technologies.

The term “sustainable development” refers to development that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

The evolution of research involving technology and the environment has grown significantly in recent years, being the focus of public policy discussions in most countries.

According to the climate convention held at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio Summit 92), green technologies are those “that protect the environment; are less polluting; use all resources in a more sustainable way; recycle more waste and products and treat residual waste in a more acceptable manner”.

Currently, companies are increasingly concerned with developing environmentally sustainable products.

When it comes to technological and sustainable development, the commitment of the public and private sectors is fundamental and the Industrial Property exerts a strong influence on encouraging investment in new technologies, in addition to stimulating the economic development of countries.

In this context, the Green Patents program of the BPTO (INPI) aims to contribute to the fight against global climate change and aims to accelerate the examination of patent applications related to technologies aimed at the environment.

With this initiative, BPTO also makes it possible to identify new technologies that can be quickly used by society, encouraging their licensing and encouraging innovation in the country.

The Green Patents pilot program started in April 2012 at BPTO.

The BPTO launched the Pilot Green Patent Program, which establishes the accelerated examination of patent applications related to environmentally sound technologies (TAS).

The pilot program ran until April, 2013, included 500 patent applications and was a huge success.

Thanks to the success of the pilot program, in December 2016, the BPTO (INPI) transformed the program into a permanent service.

BPTO also expanded the program to cover both national patent applications and international patent applications under the PCT, with no filing date restrictions.

The service was expanded again in July 2020, and today it includes requests related to sustainable agriculture.

An “official stamp” was even created, used to identify patent applications that meet the requirements of the Green Patent Service of the BPTO.

Patent applications that can be included in the priority procedure are inventions related to technologies aimed at protecting the environment, being that the Program covers the following areas of technology:

a) Alternative Energy;
b) Transport;
c) Energy Conservation;
d) Waste Management;
e) Sustainable Agriculture

In order to apply for a green patent application, through the priority examination of the BPTO, it is necessary that the application be published (in some cases, an advance publication must be requested), the examination of the patent must be or have been requested and the applications patents cannot have passed the technical examination.

Patent applications processed under the Green Patent service are given priority for patent examination. However, they are subject to the same substantive examination as other applications in terms of patentability criteria (novelty, inventive step and industrial application).

Today the decision time for the Green Patents is 1.2 years, counted from the request for entry into the program, offering a quick response for the applicant.

This result is a great gain compared to obtaining a common patent process, which can take up to 10 years.

This way, the Green Patent Program is facilitating the protection and commercialization of technologies by individuals and companies operating in the green technology sphere.

This is good news for business and even better news for the environment. We all benefit from R&D focusing on new green technologies and having effective IP services that facilitate their commercialization.

This significant reduction in terms has an extremely positive impact not only on holders, but also on the scientific community. This happens because technologies are revealed to society more quickly.

In addition, these technologies end up entering the market much faster as well. That is, they will be working and positively impacting society in much less time. In addition, this reduction in time generates a boost in competition.

After all, competing industries will possibly be interested in the development of equally sustainable technologies.

Companies stated that, in addition to the direct benefits of the accelerated process, the “green patent” stamp represents to further recognition of the market value and effectiveness of its technologies, which are of great advantage when attracting customers and investors.

Therefore, considering the environmental crises that society faces today, incentives for sustainability and preservation of the environment must be considered very important, with the objective of guaranteeing quality of life not only for the current society, but also for its future generations.

In this way, the acceleration of patent applications focused on green technology, by the BPTO can be considered as another incentive to society, aiming at the development of new sustainable technologies, aimed at the preservation of natural resources and that reduce impacts of degradation to the environment.