In our recent post , we discussed how Brazil’s Patent and Trademark office (BPTO) has been taking important steps to align itself with other offices around the globe. For example, in WTR’s annual IP Office Innovation Ranking, which ranks national offices by their use...
Trademarks
Understanding the Andean Opposition Protocol
During a recent administration program of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the national industrial property offices of Peru, Colombia and Ecuador signed a new case management protocol for the Andean Opposition. The purpose of the Protocol is to...
Some procedural considerations in Brazilian Trademark infringement actions
In our recent article, we discussed 10 Common questions on Trademark Enforcement in Brazil. In this post, we look at some further procedural considerations you should keep in mind in terms of Brazilian infringement actions, including the types of defences available,...
Navigating the Madrid Protocol in Brazil
Brazil ratified the Madrid Protocol, which became operational in the country on October 2, 2019 (under Decree No. 10,033). In this post, we consider the requirement to appoint a local representative in respect of Brazilian Madrid Protocol designations, and the...
Icons and your IP rights – 8 tips for ensuring greater protection
Icons that identify applications are the new distinguishing signs of today. They are used to facilitate our navigation on smartphones and computers. There can be little doubt that icons have a distinctive function. However, is it possible to protect application icons...
10 Common questions on Trademark Enforcement in Brazil
Are you interested to learn about some of the particularities of Trademark enforcement in the Brazilian courts? Here we take a look at 10 common questions that people routinely want answered when looking to Brazil as a potential country to expand their trademark...
Brazil — new national action plan to combat piracy approved
In a recent post, we discussed how Brazil’s Anti-counterfeiting Council (CNCP) recently met with other government entities and stakeholders, suggesting new studies on piracy and the related socio-economic impacts. The meeting also involved the reformulation of the...
Using empirical research to understand Brazilian IP practice
The discussion on using empirical research for law is not a new one. In fact, the term “Jurimetrics” was already in frequent use in the US during the 1960s, when computers started to have a more radical effect on legal research capabilities. So, what is jurimetrics?...
A look at recent innovation and technology measures in Brazil
Last month, the World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”), together with institutional partners, released its 14th Global Innovation Index (“GII”) report. In this post, we briefly look at Brazil’s position in the index and some of the ongoing initiatives that...
Brazilian PTO creates new rules for position marks
On 21 September, the Brazilian PTO published a new rule, providing for the registration of trademarks in the form of a position mark. This is good news, as it brings the country in line with other jurisdictions that already accept this type of registration...
Intellectual Property in Brazil: A brief synopsis
Over the last years, the government began focusing its attention on creating a culture of innovation, and the growth of Intellectual Property in Brazil. This led to many new initiatives across all powers of Brazilian government aiming to make the country more modern...
The BPTO: A Positive Transformation?
When meeting international colleagues at conferences and IP events, the conversation often centered around the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office’s (BPTO) well documented problems with delay and backlog of applications. In patents, for example, it was quite...
Madrid Protocol in Brazil
When is a trademark a trademark? In an ideal world a trademark should be whatever is perceived as a trademark by consumers. If we consider, for example, how businesses use trademarks to reach consumers this point becomes clear. Decades ago the primary channels of...