WIPO-administered Treaties: 

Contracting Party of the Paris Convention: YES

Contracting Party of the Patent Cooperation

Treaty (PCT): YES. Due term for entry into national phase: 30 months. 

Patent Law in force: 

IP Law 9279/1996 

Formal filing requirements: 

Power of Attorney: merely signed (no legalization required) within 60 days from filing. Scanned copy is valid.

  • Assignment document from the inventors merely signed (no legalization required) within 60 days from filing (180 days if Convention application). Not required if priority’s applicant is the same or there is an assignee note in US-priorities.
  • Certified copy of priority application within 180 days from filing (not required for entry into national phase of PCT applications provided that PCT/IB304 form is available). 
  • Sequence listings must be filed in WIPO Standard ST.26 format.

Filing of the patent application in a foreign language: 

  1. Only partial translation accepted (title, claims, abstract) Late submission of the complete Brazilian translation is acceptable within 60 days from filing.

Substantive examination must be requested by the applicant: 

YES, within 36 months from filing date (international filing date in the case of entry into national phase of PCT). 

Observations by third parties: 

YES. Between publication and completion of the technical examination. 

Opposition: 

YES. Between publication and completion of the technical examination. 

Average time from filing to grant: 

10 years. 

Term of protection for patents: 

20 years from filing date.

Term of protection for utility models: 

15 years from filing date (according to article 40 of the Brazilian Property Law)

Maintenance: 

Yearly during prosecution of the application. 

Compulsory licensing: 

YES 

Link to Patent Office: 

http://www.inpi.gov.br/