NEW EXTENSION OF THE BPTO'S DEADLINES SUSPENSION

The Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (“BPTO”) has extended the suspension of its deadlines until April 30, 2020, by Ordinance No. 161/2020. The deadlines had already been suspended previously through Ordinance No. 120/2020, until the present day. Such measure was taken as a form of challenging the COVID-19 outbreak. The Brazilian Patent Trademark Office's servers and collaborators also had their home office extended until April 30, 2020.

The Ordinance applies to every process and suspends all ongoing deadlines, which shall be counted again from the end of the suspension period, according to its remaining time. Likewise, the deadlines, which would begin during this period, shall be counted only after its end. The users may decide whether they will use the deadline suspension or not, since it is possible and advisable to anticipate the filing of briefs through the BPTO’s online systems to avoid difficulties or interruption of connection to the BPTO's website.

For more information about the topics raised in this Legal Update, please contact our Intellectual Property & Data Privacy team.