The X SIPID - International Patent, Innovation and Development Seminar will be the venue for the presentation of the first global results of the Patent Backlog Fight Plan, initiated in August by the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI). Data will be revealed during the panel dedicated to the project. The presentation will be made by Liane Lage, Director of Patents, Computer Programs and Integrated Circuit Topographies of INPI, the main guest of the table. The event takes place on December 4th, in Rio de Janeiro.

Reducing the stock of pending patent applications, the so-called backlog, is an old concern. According to Liane Lage, earlier this year, 162,000 requests were waiting to be analyzed. She says that with the new program, INPI expects to reduce by 2021, 80% of the backlog. After this period, the objective is for the average concession period to fall to two years from the date of the examination request. Considering the 36 months established by law for applicants to request the examination of the application, the total time from filing of the patent until its decision by the INPI should not exceed the five-year limit provided for in TRIPS.

In order to reach the ambitious goal, the Institute is taking advantage of the search for priorities carried out by other offices in the world, for patent cases already examined in other countries. Thus, it is expected to increase the productivity of Brazilian examiners. “We are taking advantage of the first stage [of the exam], which is the search. Decreasing part of the exam effort increases the examiner's productivity, ”explains Liane Lage. Despite this use, she points out that the decision to grant or not the patent will be the INPI. “Our institutional competence remains, it is not revalidation of any exam”, guarantees.

Another positive aspect of the plan is to remove very old applications from the examination queue that are no longer in the interest of the respective depositors. Following the prior search, the INPI notifies who filed the patent for a preliminary adjustment of the claims. The applicant has 90 days to respond. If it does not appear within this period, the claim is permanently filed. “We are working on some orders from 10, 12 years ago. Often the user is no longer interested in maintaining that technology. When INPI starts the exam and begins to make demands, some companies are deciding not to proceed with the request and then they do not express themselves ”, explains Liane Lage. She says that in the pilot driven before the official launch of the program, the filing rate was 20%.

In November, the deadline for responses to the first published requirements expires, and this is when INPI will have a better consolidated view of the program's results. “From now on we will have a better reading of the outcome of this draft preliminary requirement,” says Lage. The idea is that for X SIPID it will be possible to present the first overall results including response rate and archiving.

After the presentation of Liane Lage on the panel, there will be a debate with the participation of professionals and industry experts. Julia Paranhos, coordinator of the IE / UFRJ Innovation Economics Group, will bring an economic approach to the topic, and Reginaldo Arcuri, FarmaBrasil Group's president, Tatiane Schofield, Interfarma's Legal and Compliance Director, and Telma Salles , president of PróGenéricas, who will speak from the perspective of the pharmaceutical sector.