Recent decisions by the Brazilian Supreme Court removed the option of patent term extension and retroactively changed the patent term on previously granted pharmaceutical and medical device patents.

Going forward, all Brazilian patents will receive a patent term of 20 years counted from its application filing date.  The previously awarded patent term of 10-years from grant, as compensation for excessive delay from the Brazilian Patent Office, will no longer be provided.

Moreover, the Brazilian Supreme Court decided that previously granted patents covering pharmaceutical products and processes and health related products and materials, including medical devices, that were awarded a 10-year from grant patent term will retroactively be changed to a 20-year term counted from the date of filing.  This means that many previously granted Brazilian patents covering pharmaceuticals and medical devices will lose patent term.  All patents with effected patent term will be republished with a 20-year term from the filing date.