If you’ve taken Spanish or Portuguese, the stem word Buscar (to search) comes in handy. This link skips most of the steps needed to get to the search page. I say most because, as you’ll see on the search page, you need a username and password. This page stopped me dead in my tracks several times when I was trying to find the search page.
The first hidden treasure, however, is not even on the search page or in the matter. It’s to click on Continuar which states that you would like to search anonymously. You must select which type of IP you would like to search. Selecting the ‘Patente’ light bulb icon gets you to the patent search page and from here you can enter your application number in the first text box. I always remove all dashes and spaces when entering the number.
The next step is to click on the Pesquisar button at the bottom of the search section. Now the results will appear and you can select the matter that is relevant to you.
Once the result(s) are displayed, you’ll click on the hyperlinked matter that you are interested in, and it will render information on the Brazilian matter. This page is where I use the browser translation and keep it in translation mode if possible. This is mainly due to there being so much useful information that I don’t always recognize which fields provide me with what I might be looking for.
For each record, the beginning section provides basic bibliographic information about the given matter. I won’t provide a field-by-field description, but I will mention the Peticoes section on the Brazil patent page. This section lists some event information like PCT national entry and, my favorite, Annuity Payments.
Here is your second hidden treasure in Brazil. The column Servico lists a code number. Hovering over this code gives a description of the activity. Great news…when you translate, the language that appears when hovering is in English. This comes in handy when you need to understand the codes in case they provide useful examination or renewal activities. For instance, I’ve memorized that code 220 is the renewals code and the date listed is the paid annuity date. Always note the date format for each country. Brazil’s date format is dd-mm-yyyy.
Now you have a few hidden treasures on the Brazilian patent office website! I’m sure there are more. If you know of one I didn’t mention, please let us know or post on our LinkedIn page. If you found this valuable, we have a webinar on-demand that focuses on Best Practices for Efficient Docketing of Routine Formalities in Brazil, as well as Malaysia, Taiwan, Mexico, India, and Russia/Eurasia.
Black Hills IP hopes this content becomes a continuous flow of information that the IP community can rely on and act on. We are the leaders in smarter IP data docketing. Click here to visit the Brazilian Patent Office Website.