Intellectual Property and marketing law - fields that have undergone well-documented transformations over the past two decades - have witnessed radical changes in how trademark assets interact with the public.
In 2025, around 40 SEP infringement court actions were filed in Brazil. In the opening months of 2026, around 20 more followed, with the trajectory pointing to a fuller year ahead. A few patterns stand out.
The Brazilian Trademark and Patent Office ( INPI ) has released its 2025 rankings of intellectual property filings, covering patents and trademarks, and segmented by resident and non-resident applicants. Beyond the numbers, the data reveals where innovation is being produced, who is investing in brand protection in Brazil, and how filing strategies are evolving. For companies operating in the country, understanding these trends is essential to benchmarking their own IP positioning and identifying competitive risks.
On May 19, 2026, the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BPTO) published Normative Ordinance No. 069, establishing a transition rule for the examination of industrial design applications under the second edition of the Industrial Design Manual.
During the Brazilian Intellectual Property Association (ABPI) Scientific Meeting on April 14, 2026, the Brazilian PTO, represented by Mr. Diego Musskopf, provided a detailed analysis of the current landscape of the Brazilian patent system. As one of the Coordinators of ABPI’s Patent Committee, I highlight that the BPTO is not merely aiming for administrative improvements, but for a structural revolution.
Although well received by the market, a Brazilian court’s decision ordering the Federal Government to transfer additional funds to the country’s patent office (INPI) did not receive the expected response from the agency itself. “The INPI does not have the capacity to execute (spend) more than US$ 24 million per year,” said its president, Julio Cesar Moreira, referring to the institution’s current budget.
After nearly three decades of negotiations, the Free Trade Agreement between Mercosur and the European Union entered a decisive phase with its promulgation by Brazil, officially completed on April 28, 2026. This step concludes the domestic legislative process and brings the implementation of one of the world’s largest economic integration areas closer to reality, encompassing approximately 718 million people and a combined GDP exceeding USD 22 trillion.
Article 19 of the Brazilian Civil Rights Framework for the Internet, particularly its paragraph 1, establishes that application providers may only be held civilly liable if, after receiving a specific court order, they fail to remove content identified with sufficient precision to allow its unequivocal location.
Brazil closed 2025 with a historic milestone in its industrial property system: over 500,000 trademark applications filed in a single year, according to data released by the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (INPI). This represents the highest volume ever recorded and a significant increase compared to the previous year.
Standard Essential Patents (SEPs): Brazil’s Consolidation as a Strategic Forum for Global Disputes
Disputes involving Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) have rapidly evolved into one of the most dynamic areas of IP litigation in Brazil. What was once a marginal jurisdiction for SEP enforcement has, particularly from 2024 onwards, evolved into a consolidated and strategically relevant forum within the global litigation and licensing landscape.