On March 17, 2026, the Economic Affairs Committee (CAE) approved Bill No. 4,972/2019, a legislative initiative that directly addresses long-standing structural inefficiencies in the Brazilian patent system, reflecting a broad institutional effort, aimed at backlog reduction and the modernization of BPTO management.
The bill introduces targeted amendments to Law No. 9,279/1996 (Brazilian IP Law), with a clear emphasis on shortening procedural timelines. As for Article 3, it reduces the confidentiality period of patent applications to 12 months, aligns the deadline for requesting substantive examination from 36 to 18 months, and standardizes deadlines for applicant submissions to 30 days.
Brazil’s patent system has suffered from excessive pendency periods, often exceeding international benchmarks, while mature jurisdictions operate with average examination timelines closer to three years. The reduction of procedural deadlines is therefore a necessary mechanism to accelerate examination flow and reduce the stock of pending applications.
Equally relevant is Article 4, which revokes the sole paragraph of Article 40 of the IP Law, that allowed patent term extensions as compensation for delays attributable to the BPTO. Instead of correcting inefficiency ex post through term adjustments, the system is now being redesigned to prevent such delays from occurring in the first place.
The bill also introduces governance-oriented measures. Notably, it establishes the obligation to publish a “Report on the Application of Resources and Investments,” detailing concrete targets for process improvement and deadline reduction. This measure reinforces the modernization of BPTO management as it ties resource allocation directly to performance metrics.
The combined effect of these measures a faster and more predictable prosecution system that reduces legal uncertainty, enhances the value of patent protection, and improves Brazil’s position as a jurisdiction for innovation and investment.
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Author: Enzo Toyoda Coppola, Thaís de Kássia R. Almeida Penteado and Cesar Peduti Filho, Peduti Advogados.
Source: https://www25.senado.leg.br/web/atividade/materias/-/materia/138676
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