BRPTO’s invites public comments on patent examination draft guidelines related to the area of chemistry

(Federal Register of March 17th, 2017)The Patent Application Examination Guidelines – aspects related to the examination of patent applications in the area of chemistry – complement the contents of block I (BRPTO Rule #124/2013) and block II (BRPTO Rule #169/2016) of the guidelines for the examination of patent applications, with particularities about the examination of patent applications in the area of chemistry. According to BRPTO’s instructions, the patent examination draft guidelines related to the area of chemistry should be read together with block I and block II.The draft guidelines formally implement the current practice of the examiners of the chemical and pharma fields. For instance, the guidelines define (i) how a compound shall be claimed, i.e., by its chemical structure or chemical name; (ii) that in applications comprising second medical use claims in vivo tests must be disclosed in the specification for compliance with enablement requirement; (iii) that an independent pharmaceutical composition shall be defined by its constituents, but a dependent claim can be defined by its use or functionality. The guidelines also encompass polymorph applications and define how said applications must be drafted in order to be sufficiently described.The draft guidelines are available at the BRPTO’s website and can be downloaded from the following link: Patent examination draft guidelines related to chemical area (original version in Portuguese). The English version of the draft guidelines will be available soon.Suggestions must be electronically sent to saesp@inpi.gov.br in a specific form made available by the BRPTO.