In Industrial Property Gazette No. 2608, of December 29, 2020, the BRPTO published Ordinance No. 411, which sets forth the new Guidelines for Examination of Patent Applications involving Computer Implemented Inventions. These Guidelines fully revokes previous Resolution No. 158 from 2016.

The Guidelines have the purpose of updating the former Guidelines and to better define the scope of some terms such as “algorithm”, “computer programs”, “set of instructions” and “expression of a set of instructions”. The Decree also foresees the possibility of patenting inventions directed to methods performed in an environment of Internet of Things (IoT), as well as inventions related to Artificial Intelligence (AI), encompassing machine learning and deep learning tools for solving technical problems, provided that the requirements of the Brazilian Law and rules are met.

The Ordinance clarifies patentability permissions and bars that may potentially affect computer implemented inventions. Amongst the topics covered by the Ordinance, we can recite the items from Article 10 of the Brazilian Industrial Property Law (BIPL), which defines the objects that shall not be regarded as inventions in our country. Accordingly, the topics discussed in the present Guidelines are the following: mathematical methods; commercial, accounting, financial, educational, advertising, raffling, and inspection methods; computer Programs per se; presentation of information; and surgical techniques and methods, as well as therapeutic or diagnostic methods, for application to human or animal body. The Ordinance also brings some general remarks on how the title, specification, claims and abstract for this specific type of patent application are expected to be formulated.

Click here https://bit.ly/3ogGxv2 for more information (in Portuguese).

 

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