Brazilian Patent Office Updates PPH Request Criteria for 2025

Starting January 1, 2025, the Brazilian Intellectual Property Office (INPI) has published new criteria for Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) requests and introduced significant updates aimed at improving transparency and efficiency in the processing of patent applications by the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office.

In 2025, INPI will expand the PPH quota system to process applications based on the date and time of submission. A total of 3,200 PPH requests will be accepted annually on a first-come, first-served basis, and will be allocated quarterly as follows:
- 800 PPH request quotas will be provided from January 1, 2025
- 800 more PPH request quotas will be released on April 1, July 1 and October 1 respectively

Once the quarterly quota is reached, further PPH requests will be temporarily suspended for patent applications in all parts of the International Patent Classification (IPC). Already filed patent applications will continue to be processed normally, but any amendments submitted with the PPH application will not be considered.

In the first quarter of 2025, no PPH applications will be accepted for applications with the main classification of IPC H04 (electronic communications). The INPI will reassess the acceptance of these PPH requests on a quarterly basis. The INPI will publish a weekly summary of the total number of PPH applications submitted during the year on its official website. As of January 2025, the INPI has received 79 PPH requests, an increase of 9.7% over the same period last year.

In addition, Brazil has joined the Global PPH Network, expanding PPH partnerships to 27 patent offices, including the German Patent Office DPMA, the Japanese Patent Office JPO, the Finnish Patent Office PRH, the Australian Patent Office AUIPO, the US Patent Office USPTO and the UK Patent Office UKIPO. INPI currently has PPH bilateral agreements with the European Patent Office EPO, the French Patent Office INPI and the Chinese Patent Office CNIPA.