Assessment of the past administration (2015-2018) and upcoming challenges
On February 11th , the nomination of Cláudio Vilar Furtado was announced in the Federal register. Licks Attorneys had already published the information on January 8th following the declaration by the Ministry of the Economy.
Mr. Furtado is a career professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation’s (FGV) School of Business Administration (EAESP). Mr. Furtado received a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from FGV, a Master’s Degree in Business Economics from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where he also undertook doctoral education in Finance (PhD, abd), and a Doctoral Degree in Business Administration from FGV.
The now former BRPTO’s president Luiz Otavio Pimentel, during his term at the BRPTO – July 2015 to February 2019 -, focused his efforts to reduce the examination pendency and the backlog. Under Mr. Pimentel +3-year mandate, seven PPH programs and three new fast-track programs were issued, another two have been renovated and expanded.
Between 2015 and 2018, the average first action pendency decreased from 9.9 months to 9.4 months and the total pendency decreased from 10.9 years to 10 years. The 2018–2021 Strategic Plan published last November by the BRPTO, under Mr. Pimentel’s administration, provides the scenario expected for the next three years and sets five major goals to be achieved until 2021.
Goals presented by the BRPTO 2018 - 2021 Strategic Plan
The Strategic Plan also introduced ambitious objectives to significantly reduce the first action pendency and the decision pendency. The table below shows the goals set for patent applications.
Upcoming challenges
Mr. Furtado’s main challenge will be the backlog reduction which is still the major problem faced by the BRPTO. According to the BRPTO 2018–2021 Strategic Plan, the backlog reduction goals to be achieved until 2021 are intrinsically related to the implementation of a legal measure for patent application simplified allowance procedure.
Following Decree No. 9660, signed by Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro on January 1st, the BRPTO became part of the newly formed Ministry of the Economy, which is a fusion of four different ministries, including the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC), of which the BRPTO was part in the former government.
Mr. Furtado’s relationship with Mr. Bolsonaro, and the Minister of the Economy, Paulo Guedes, should be strong and solid enough to support the maintenance of the proposed Strategic Plan and expedite and improve the overall patent examination process, without jeopardizing the quality levels.
