Patent filing in Brazil:

Building a strong patent portfolio starts with your filing strategy. For patent filing in Brazil, the largest economy in the region, you need to know the local patent office requirements. This guide will take you through all filing requirements and important stats in Brazil. 

When conducting a PCT national phase patent filing in Brazil, you are required to submit the following documents: 

• • International Application.
• • Portuguese translation of the International Application (specification and claims).
• • Drawings (if these exist and are necessary for support, you must submit them with filing given you will not be able to submit them later).
• • Amendments made under Art. 19 or 34, and corresponding Portuguese translations.
• • Certificate of Deposit of Biological Material (if applicable).
• • Sequence Listings (if applicable).
• • A signed copy of the Power of Attorney (no legalization required) – NOT MANDATORY FOR FILING BUT HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO AVOID A FORMAL OFFICE ACTION.

For direct (Paris Convention) filings only 

• • A certified copy of the Priority Document is required three (3) months after filing. A simple Portuguese translation thereof is also required.
• • A simple copy of the Assignment Document is required three (3) months after filing. A simple Portuguese translation thereof is also required.

Even though Portuguese translation is mandatory, an English version may be submitted with patent filing in Brazil. However, the title, abstract and claims must be in Portuguese with filing. The entire Portuguese translation must then be submitted up to 30 days after filing. 

For direct filings, simple Portuguese translation of priority documents and assignments must be filed three (3) months after filing. 

In Brazil, the deadline for filing the national phase requirements under PCT Article 39(a) is 30 months from the priority date.

Once the patent is granted, payment of Patent Grant fees is required. These must be paid within 60 days from the issuance notice.

In Brazil, maintenance fees apply for patents pending and must be paid annually starting the 3rd year from the filing date.

On the other hand, the patent term is 20 years from the international filing date.

After filing a patent application, an examination must be requested to decide whether the application meets the requirements to be granted a patent. In Brazil, an examination must be requested within 36 months from the international filing date for a PCT application, or the Brazilian filing date for conventional applications.

The PPH (Patent Prosecution Highway) is a procedure that speeds up the processing of a patent application, based on the favorable result obtained in a foreign office, with which a cooperation agreement has been reached.

PPH is available in Brazil through the following agreements: PROSUL (Latin America), United States, Japan, China, EPO (Europe), Korea, France, among others.

There is a yearly 800 PPH request limit.

The first annuity payment must be made between 24 months after the filing date and the end of the 3rd month of the 3rd year after the patent is filed and it must be paid in this time window every year thereafter. 

If you fail to pay the annuity fee within this time frame, there is a grace period of six months after the deadline, but it has additional costs. If you do not pay the fees during this period, your application will be abandoned, and if you already have a patent grant, the patent registration will be extinguished. Therefore, it is very important to make these payments on time. 

For patent filing in Brazil you must address the local office: the Brazilian National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI).  

Their website is: https://www.gov.br/inpi/en

In Brazil, requests for restoration of priority rights due to lapsed national phase entry are accepted in accordance with PCT Rule 49.6

Brazilian prosecution backlog has certainly improved in the last five years due to pivotal campaigns reducing average prosecution from 11.5 to about 8 years.

As a result, the number of decisions published by the INPI went from 7,152 in 2015 to 51,588 in 2020, representing an increase of more than 700%.

Brazil saw a 3.9% increase in total patent applications in 2023, reaching 50,738 filings. Non-resident applications continued to dominate, accounting for 80% of total filings, with a slight 0.2% year-over-year increase. The stability in non-resident filings reflects Brazil’s position as a key IP destination in Latin America. Resident filings, after three consecutive years of decline, rebounded by 13.1%, signaling renewed domestic innovation and potential recovery in the local patent ecosystem. The data suggests growing interest in IP protection from Brazilian applicants despite broader economic challenges.

The United States remains the largest non-resident filer in Brazil, maintaining a steady volume of 7,671 applications, despite a marginal -1% dip from 2022. China continued its upward trajectory, reaching 1,648 filings, marking a 2% increase and solidifying its position as the second-largest foreign filer. Germany and Switzerland also saw modest gains, whereas Japan experienced a continued decline, dropping to 1,077 filings in 2023. The resilience of top filers highlights Brazil’s ongoing attractiveness for international patent applicants, with a steady balance between PCT and direct filings.