What is an official copy?

The official copy of a patent application is a document with a certification issued by the Brazilian National Institute of Industrial Property – INPI evidencing which matter was filed in Brazil for

1)      applications first filed in Brazil; or
2)      Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications in which INPI acted as Receiving Office.

The copy contains the application form and the technical documents filed (description, claims, abstract, and any drawings). It may be provided to the applicant or his/her attorney-in-fact upon request to INPI through a specific petition.

When  requesting a certified copy, the patent applicant shall choose one of the two types of service available, according to his/her need or interest. Thus, it is possible to receive the copy:

1)      in paper form, by picking the document up in INPI’s headquarters or in one of the its regional facilities; or
2)      in electronic form, by downloading the document as a certificate digital file on INPI’s website and simultaneously having a version of it included, by the Institute, in an international digital library for sharing priority documents, the WIPO-DAS platform.

When filing his/her request for a certified copy, the applicant shall choose a form of service (paper or electronic) paying attention to the priority document formats accepted by the foreign offices with which he/she intends to file.

The electronic copy may be provided to several countries with no need to send a correspondence, in addition to require a single copy request from the interested party to INPI. One should remind, however, that not all foreign Intellectual Property offices accept electronic copies. Among those who do, some of them access these documents via WIPO-DAS; for those who do not use this system, the copy shall be sent directly by the interested party.