Region: Latin America & Caribbean

The Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office has proposed changes to the patent application examination guidelines discussing certain conditions that should be considered when examining a selection invention, and providing guidance for the examiners in such cases. A selection invention is one in which a single element or small segment within a broad known group is selected and claimed in an independent way.

18 May 2016

Historically in Brazil, it is rare to obtain a preliminary injunction in a patent case. However, the new Brazilian Civil Procedural Code, which came into force in 2015, radically changed the situation.

11 May 2016

At least 14 drugs are protected by patents that benefit from Article 40 of the Industrial Property Law, which states that the duration of patent protection must be at least 10 years from the date of grant. For both domestic and foreign companies, biotechnology is the greatest source of innovation for their products.

04 May 2016

The Industrial Propriety Law requires the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) to give prior approval for the grant of invention patents involving pharmaceutical products and processes. However, in a recent case the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office demonstrated a clear position not only against ANVISA carrying out patentability examinations, but also against the relevant legal provision.

27 April 2016

US PIPCO Vringo announced late yesterday that its Vringo Infrastructure subsidiary had reached a litigation settlement and licence agreement with Chinese telecoms major ZTE, bringing to an end a sprawling, multi-jurisdictional and at times…

08 December 2015

Featured in IAM Yearbook 2016 – Building IP value in the 21st century

Introduction Peru is a member of the Andean Community, along with Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia. The Andean Community is a customs union which aims to promote the development of member states by means of integration and economic and social…

23 October 2015

Featured in IAM Yearbook 2016 – Building IP value in the 21st century

Trade secrets have played a role in the protection of technology and knowledge for centuries. For instance, in the pre-Hispanic cultures that existed in the current territory of Mexico, knowledge of the astronomical seasons and their impact on…

23 October 2015

Featured in IAM Yearbook 2016 – Building IP value in the 21st century

Venezuela is a signatory to various international agreements, including the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, the Hague Convention, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) and the…

23 October 2015

Negotiators from 12 Pacific Rim countries announced yesterday that they had reached agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade liberalisation pact covering 40% of the world’s economy which has proven controversial for, among other…

06 October 2015

It increasingly looks like we are on the cusp of entering a second round of smartphone patent wars, driven by the expansion of China’s fast-moving, lower-end mobile device manufacturers outside of their home markets. Earlier this month, Brazil’s…

30 July 2015