Mr. Luiz Otávio Pimentel has been appointed as the new president of INPI (the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office – BRPTO). The official notice for the nomination was published yesterday, July 28, 2015, in the Federal Register. On April 10, 2015, President Dilma published an official notice dismissing the former president, Otávio Brandelli, who had been in charge of the office for less than one and a half years. Since then, vice-president, Ademir Tardelli, acted as interim head of the BRPTO. There is strong speculation on the reasons for Mr. Brandellis’ departure. Mr. Brandelli had a strong background in Intellectual Property and, while in office, took a series of measures to expedite prosecution and to reduce the BRPTO’s backlog.

What do we know about Mr. Pimentel? He is a professor with expertise on International Law and Intellectual Property. He holds a Masters in Law from the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) and a Ph.D. in Legal Sciences from the National University of Asunción – Paraguay. He is also an arbitrator at the Ad Hoc Arbitration Court of Mercosur.

Mr. Pimentel faces numerous challenges in his new position as the BRPTO requires strong leadership by an intellectual property expert with the ability to take drastic measures to restore a high-quality management at the office. In addition to having the fortitude needed to fight the battle against the huge backlog, Mr. Pimentel will need to lead the BRPTO with transparency, allowing applicants to have advance knowledge of which guidelines and rules the examiners will adopt during prosecution.

Other important goals that need to be achieved are the acceleration of the examination process and signature of the main international agreements to simplify prosecution, such as the Patent Prosecution Highway.

The next few months will be crucial for the BRPTO’s future and for the development of Intellectual Property in Brazil.

This post was written by Lisa Mueller and Licks Attorneys law firm.