On November 4, the Information and Communication Technologies Commission of the Brazilian Bar Association – Rio de Janeiro Section (OAB-RJ) held a lecture titled “Maintaining the sovereignty of Brazilian courts over ICTs registered in national territory”, bringing together prominent figures such as Professor Nádia de Araújo (PUC-Rio) and Federal Judge Márcia Maria Nunes de Barros (13th Federal Court of Rio de Janeiro).

The discussion highlighted the tension between the territorial nature of industrial property and the increasing globalization of technologies. Nádia de Araújo emphasized that Brazilian jurisdictional sovereignty must be preserved in the face of rulings issued abroad that seek to produce effects in Brazil, recalling the precedent set in ADPF 1178, in which the Supreme Federal Court reaffirmed national jurisdiction, holding that orders issued by foreign courts cannot bind the Brazilian Judiciary, and that any judgement rendered outside the country must be recognized by the Superior Court of Justice in order to have domestic effect. Although not strictly an intellectual property matter, the case addresses the enforceability of foreign interim relief vis-à-vis Brazilian judicial sovereignty.

Along the same lines, Judge Márcia Nunes examined the impact of anti-suit injunctions, judicial orders intended to prevent litigation in other jurisdictions, and their variations, such as anti-anti-suit injunctions, which have fueled “injunction wars” between countries. In her view, the challenge lies in safeguarding of Brazilian jurisdiction with the need for international judicial cooperation.

The closing message centered on the notion of balance: upholding judicial sovereignty without abandoning global dialogue, and promoting cooperation and transparency as instruments of stability in both the judicial and technological landscape.