Brasília – Pharmaceutical companies in Brazil are facing long delays at the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI), with some patent applications taking around six years to be examined, according to an audit highlighted in a recent UOL Economia column. The prolonged timelines affect innovators across the sector and have drawn attention to structural challenges within the patent system, including backlog, limited examiner capacity and procedural bottlenecks that hinder timely protection of inventions.

Industry sources point out that lengthy patent examinations create uncertainty for research-intensive companies, impacting investment decisions and planning for product launches. The issue is underscored by high-profile cases such as semaglutide patents, where delays of more than a decade have prompted judicial scrutiny and discussions on mechanisms to restore effective protection periods lost during extended review processes.

Source: UOL Economia