BRAZIL Law and Practice Contributed by: Ricardo Barretto Ferreira da Silva and Camila Sabino Del Sasso, Azevedo Sette Advogados
7.2 Trade Marks According to the Industrial Property Law, a trade mark is defined as a visually perceptible and distinctive sign used to identify and distinguish products or services or to certify that they meet specific standards or technical specifications. A trade mark may comprise words, phrases, let - ters, numbers, images, shapes, or any combina - tion of these elements. Once registered with the INPI, the trade mark grants its owner exclusive rights to use the sign across the Brazilian market within its field of activity for a period of ten years from the reg - istration date, with the possibility of renewal for successive ten-year terms. Trade marks may be transferred or licensed to third parties. Any such licence must be for - malised through a contract entered into by the involved parties. Trade mark rights may be lost through the expi - ration of the registration term, full or partial renunciation of the goods or services covered, forfeiture, or the absence of a properly qualified legal representative domiciled in Brazil in the case of owners based abroad. The Industrial Property Law also provides enhanced protection for well-known and highly reputed trade marks. Trade marks recognised by the INPI as highly reputed are granted exclusive protection across all sectors of activity, regard - less of their original market. Well-known marks, even if not yet registered in Brazil, receive spe - cial protection within their area of recognition. 7.3 Industrial Design Industry design is defined by the Industrial Prop - erty Law as the ornamental plastic form of an object or the ornamental set of lines and colours
The patent application must contain: • technical content – a descriptive report, a table of claims, a list of sequences (if appli - cable, for applications in the biotechnology area), drawings (if applicable) and an abstract; • a filing request; and • proof of payment of the filing fee ( Guia de Recolhimento da União , or GRU). In April 2024, the Foreign Relations and Nation - al Defence Committee ( Comissão de Relações Exteriores e Defesa Nacional , or CRE) approved Bill No 2,210/2022, which proposes the revision of the procedures for filing and examining pat - ents by the National Institute of Industrial Prop - erty (INPI). But it still needs to be enacted by the Brazilian Congress to come into force. Under the proposed legislation, patent applica - tions could be submitted in Portuguese, with supporting documents allowed in foreign lan - guages, provided they are accompanied by a simple translation into Portuguese within 60 days. Additionally, the INPI would be permitted to consider patentability opinions issued by for - eign patent offices and international or regional organisations. The bill also relaxes the requirement for foreign applicants to appoint a Brazil-based attorney when submitting a patent application, provided international agreements exempt such a require - ment. Another notable provision is the introduc - tion of a provisional patent application, intended for applicants who do not yet have all the infor - mation necessary to file a complete application. Furthermore, the proposal allows applicants to amend their application up until the start of the technical examination by the INPI.
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