First edition of Brazilian Case Law from the Board of Appeal

On July 23, 2018 the Instituto Nacional da Propriedade Industrial (INPI) published online a report about decisions from the Board of Appeal which were issued in 2017.

The decisions consider the guidelines issued between 2013 and 2016 and contains analysis of 480 decisions. The publication aims to impart transparency and consistency on how the INPI applies the guidelines and so, providing a better view for applicants. It addresses several common controversial issues such as clarity and precision, enablement, novelty and inventive step in different areas such as electronics, telecommunications and pharmaceuticals.

This was clearly inspired from the Case Law of the Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office. However, one downside is that it only contains excerpts from the decisions -- no commentary or explanation is provided. This is probably due to the small number of decisions actually analyzed and the fact that the INPI guidelines are relatively new. In comparison, it is noted that the European case law contains an explanation of the rationale used by the Board to reach decisions, and sometimes addresses situations where different conclusions were reached based on the specifics of each case.

Despite the above, this is an important milestone for Brazil and a first step towards a more complete understanding of the Brazilian practice.

Post written by Fernando Seixas
Pharmacist and Patent Specialist, Brazil