The Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BPTO) has released its “2024 Top Filers Ranking”, offering a detailed snapshot of intellectual property (IP) activity in the country. The report covers the 50 largest filers of various IP assets, including patents, trademarks, utility models, industrial designs, and computer programs. The report sorts the applicants into two categories: Brazilian and non-Brazilian, allowing a clear view of the balance between them.
Patents
Foreign entities remain the leading source of patent activity in Brazil, filing approximately 77% of all filings. The United States and China lead the filings from abroad in Brazil: 32% and 14% of the Top 50 foreign patent applicants are American and Chinese, respectively. Their filings primarily came from high-tech and industrial sectors such as: Telecommunications, Chemical Products, and Information Technology.
This strong international presence highlights Brazil’s importance as a strategic market and innovation hub for global corporations.
The other 23% of the patent applications filed in 2024 are from Brazilian-based applicants. Although the list of Brazilian applicants is led by an Automotive private company, public universities and research institutes dominate the list of the Top 50 Brazilian applicants, accounting for 70% of them. This underscores the central role of academic and publicly funded research in driving innovation across the country.
Among private companies, in addition to the Automotive sector, filings came primarily from the Oil and Gas and the Engineering and Manufacturing (Metal-Mechanics) ones.
Trademarks
The trademark scenario, on the other hand, is dominated by Brazilian applicants, which account for 96% of the filings, with a significantly diverse landscape among the Top 50 resident filers. Brazilian Top 50 applicants span multiple sectors, with the highest activity observed in: Retail, Financial Services, Construction and Real Estate and Pharma Production. This diversity reflects a broad-based interest in brand protection across different areas of the national economy.
Foreign trademark activity was also robust, particularly from the United States and China, whose companies together accounted for 42.8% of the top 50 filers. The key sectors represented in non-resident trademark filings include: E-commerce and Digital Services, Technology and Entertainment and Media.
These filings reflect the growing globalization of brands and the expanding footprint of international tech and lifestyle companies in Brazil.
Industrial Designs: Focused on Product-Oriented Sectors
Brazilian applicants are responsible for almost 80% of the industrial design filings in Brazil. While the report does not detail specific numbers for industrial designs, it notes that leading filers in this category typically come from industries centered around: Product Design, Fashion, Consumer Electronics and Automotive.
Conclusion
The 2024 Top Filers Ranking offers a comprehensive view of Brazil’s IP landscape, revealing the current difference between the local and international filers.
While Brazilian applicants dominate trademark and industrial design filings, the more than ¾ of the patent applications filed in Brazil came from abroad, with the United States and China being the leading international countries in both the Top 50 patent and trademark filers.
As Brazil continues to expand its innovation ecosystem, the insights provided by this report highlights the strategic importance of intellectual property in fostering competitiveness, attracting investment, and enabling growth across sectors.
