Important Basic Information on Investing in Brazil
V - BUSINESS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY - TRADEMARKS / PATENTS
5.1. What a Trademark Is
Once the company has been registered and enrolled with the appropriate entities, it is important to have its trademarks registered with the Brazilian Industrial Property Office (INPI).
Under Brazilian law, a trademark is any distinctive, visually perceptible mark that identifies and distinguishes products and services from others that are analogous but of a different origin and certifies their conformity to certain standards or technical specifications.
5.2. Trademark Protection
Trademark ownership is protected through valid registration with the INPI, which assures the owner of exclusive use throughout Brazilian territory.
5.3. Categories of Trademark Use
Trademarks may be used for products, services, a combination of the two, or certification.
5.4. Form of Trademark
Word, device or compound.
5.5. Period of Validity
The period of validity of trademark registration is ten years, counted from the date of the grant. This period may be extended at the request of the owner for equal, successive periods. Otherwise, registration will be cancelled and the trademark will-in principle-be available to others.
5.6. Obligation of Owner
The owner of the trademark is obliged to use it in order for its registration to remain valid.
The period for initial use is five years, counted from the date the registration is granted. If forfeiture of the trademark is requested, the owner will have to evidence usage.
5.7. Trademark Assignment
The registration application and registration may be assigned, as long as the assignee has met all legal requirements.
Assignment must include all registrations or applications, in the assignor's name, of like or similar marks related to an identical, similar or like product or service, under penalty of cancellation of the registrations or denial of the applications not assigned.
The INPI will have the assignment annotated on the Certificate of Registration for the assigned trademarks.
The annotation will take effect in relation to third parties on the date of its publication.
5.8. Trademark License
Registration owners or applicants may execute agreements to license use of the trademark, without prejudice to their right to effectively control the specifications, nature and quality of the respective products or services.
The license agreement must be annotated at the INPI to produce effects in relation to third parties.
5.9. Definition of Patent
This is the official document issued by the INPI, which determines the ownership of a person over what has been created or invented.
5.10. Types of Patents
A patent can protect either an invention or a utility model. An invention is a new product or manufacturing process. A utility model is a known object to which modifications are made to improve the intended function.
5.11. Patentability Criteria
Inventions that meet the requirements of novelty, inventive activity and industrial application are patentable.
An object of practical use, or part thereof, that is (i) fit for industrial application, (ii) has a new form or layout, (iii) involves an inventive act, and (iv) produces a functional improvement in its use or manufacture is patentable as a utility model.
5.12. Patent License
Patent owners or applicants may execute patent license agreements.
License agreements must be annotated at the INPI to produce effects in relation to third parties.
5.13. Period of Validity
A patent of invention is valid for twenty (20) years and a utility model patent is valid for fifteen (15) years after the date of deposit.
5.14. Protection Afforded to Patents
A patent entitles its owner to block third parties from acting without the owner's consent to produce, use, place for sale, sell or import:
I - a product covered by the patent;
II - a process or product obtained directly through the patented process.
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