By means of Disposition No. 88/17, the National Patent Administration (ANP) has resolved that, as from the 1st of January of 2018, patent and utility model applications which Substantive Examination has not yet begun, will be examined chronologically based on their filing date.
The ANP has based this disposition on that the current methodology—in which patent and utility model applications are examined in the order in which their substantive examination was requested—goes against the transparency and celerity of the examination process.