On November 10, 2015, the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (INPI) published Rule #151 regarding the conditions for requesting priority examination of patent applications. Specifically, Rule #151 revokes Rule #68 of 2013 but maintains many of the previously established conditions. Under the Rule #151 an applicant may request priority examination of a patent application under the following conditions:

1. An applicant is shown to be at least 60 years old;

2. A third party is shown to be reproducing the subject matter of the patent application without the applicant’s previous consent;

3. Promotion funds from promotion agencies or official national credit institutions cannot be obtained unless a patent is granted (provided that such funds have been demonstrated to be an economic subsidy, financing or corporate stake, or otherwise arise from mutual investment funds that will exploit the relevant product or process); and

4. An applicant is a person with a functional or mental disability or has a severe disease.

Rule #151/2015 revoked the specific provision allowing the Ministry of Health to request prioritized examination of applications involving drugs regularly purchased by the Brazilian Public Health System. The Ministry of Health can still request priority examination of strategic drugs for the Public Health System pursuant to Rule #80/2013.

Furthermore, the Brazilian Government has retained its right to prioritize examination of those applications relevant for national emergency or public interest.