President Jair Bolsonaro sanctioned Law no. 14,195 last Thursday (August 27), which eliminates the requirement of prior consent from the Brazilian Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) for patent applications related to pharmaceutical products and processes before the technical examination carried out by the Brazilian PTO, which was established in Article 229-C of the Brazilian Industrial Property Law.
The measure (Article 57, XXVI of the aforementioned Law) modifies the current rule for patent applications related to the pharmaceutical field that was in force in Brazil since 2001.
In practical terms, it will allow the pharmaceutical industry to prosecute its patent applications without the need for prior consent from ANVISA, which means that the whole prosecution will only take place within the scope of the Brazilian PTO, providing more agility to the procedure.