Trademarks

Trademark is a sign. A sign that in Brazil should be visually perceptive.

It can be a name, a figurative symbol or, both, a three-dimensional shape. This signal must be intended to distinguish a product or a service.

The ownership of a trademark is acquired by registration, validly granted by the BRPTO (INPI = National Institute of Industrial Property). In order to deliver an effective service, and a valid registration, we analyze all sign registration requirements: legal, distinctive and available.

Registering a trademark with INPI includes the following steps:

Filing --> Publication --> Approval --> Grant

There may be oppositions in the publication. Grant resources.

Our services cover the entire administrative phase:

• The phase that precedes application, with proper analysis of the necessary protection and a search for existing patents;
• The administrative phase, with registration application and follow-up of the process and its unfolding;
• The post-registration phase, with follow-up for the next 10 years.

Like with all of our assets, we cannot rely on luck only. Registrations can expire in the course of their existence, and be extinguished by INPI, if its use is not confirmed. Therefore, registrations must be followed. Likewise, third parties may apply for similar trademarks, and in this case, you can count on our surveillance services.

Other distinctive signs

Not everything is a trademark legally speaking. Other signs can also be used as a means of distinction.

A business name is used to distinguish a company, its trade name, and the establishment. For business name protection, in principle (except in some cases), the name must be registered in the commercial board.

Protection happens at state level, and its extension depends on an endorsement from each of the commercial boards at each Brazilian state. On the other hand, a trade name is only protected at the establishment level.

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