Member Article

The world is desperately seeking a vaccine and treatments against COVID-19 and the answer will also be found in intellectual property. For this reason, PLMJ and Inventa International have joined forces to prepare a Digest on these issues that is continuously updated. Readers of this Digest will have complete and up-to-date information on the crossover between the area of intellectual property and the challenges of COVID-19, especially regarding patents and utility models, as well as all the information on the path to obtaining a vaccine.

1. Provisional measures by national and international public institutes and new functions to assist in the field of patents:
   
   In the context of the current pandemic and by legal imposition, the Portuguese National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) has started to operate exclusively through the online services available on its website. As a consequence, time limits began to run again on 16 April 2020 and, as a result, acts by interested parties have to be done within the legal time periods set out in the Industrial Property Code or in notifications issued by the INPI. For further information, please consult the INPI’s website.
   
   The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) already has a plan for a return to a physical presence at its offices. Around 70 members of staff have voluntarily, while the rest are still working remotely. The extension of deadlines that had been granted since the beginning of the pandemic by Christian Archambeau, the Executive Director of the Institute, ended on May 18. Subsequent extensions and the possibility of using other solutions to continue registration processes can be found on the Institute’s website.
   
   

Read the entire Coronavirus Digest here.

Read Coronavirus Digest No. 2: Patents and Other Intellectual Property Rights here.

Prepared in partnership with: INVENTA INTERNATIONAL

Coordination: Pedro  Lomba (PLMJ), Manuel Lopes Rocha (PLMJ), Eduardo Nogueira Pinto (PLMJ) and Vítor Palmela Fidalgo (Inventa International).

Collaboration: Inês Coré (PLMJ), Carolina Cunha Martins (PLMJ), João Francisco Sá (Inventa International) and Diogo Antunes (Inventa International).