Over the past year the Brazilian courts and the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BRPTO), along with most law firms in Brazil, have been adapting to the new reality brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic:
In recent years a patent dispute about a spray used in football matches has persisted in Brazil. The spray is used tomark the distance between the defenders and the ball when a free kick is taken. When introduced, it was considered agame changer because it:
On 29 December 2020 the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BPTO) published the Guidelines for Examining Patent Applications Involving Computer-Implemented Inventions in Official Gazette 2608.
In November 2020 the world lost the football legend Diego Maradona. His death brought up various issues regarding post mortem trademark rights. This article discusses the registration of proper names as trademarks in Brazil and explores the measures that parties can take to ensure that the legacy and goodwill associated with their intellectual property is preserved after their death.
At the end of 2020, the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) published four guidelines on its prior consent procedure, which all pharmaceutical patent applications in Brazil must undergo before the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BRPTO) conducts the technical examination:
Although it has been almost one year since Brazil joined the Madrid Protocol, some key procedures for the national trademark registration process remain pending, including:
What statutes, regulations or case law govern IP rights in your jurisdiction? IP rights are governed by the Federal Constitution, the IP Law and the Copyright Law, as well as various international agreements (see below).
Rise in e-commerce: According to the latest Webshoppers report (42nd edition, produced by Ebit in partnership with Elo), Brazilian e-commerce grew by 47% in the first half of 2020, the highest recorded increase in the past 20 years. The report showed that sales growth was driven by a 39% increase in the number of orders compared with the first half of 2019, with 90.8 million orders placed. Sales increased by 47% to R38.8 billion over the same period.
Introduction: The variety of information and communication characteristic of the digital world has significantly changed consumption behaviour. Within this context, ads and marketing strategies have become increasingly elaborate and aggressive in order to capture consumers' attention.
On 1 January 2021 Ordinance 404 came into force, establishing Phase II of the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Programme in Brazil. Phase II was published by the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BRPTO) in the last week of 2020 and modifies the limits and requirements for requesting participation in the PPH Programme, which are detailed below. With this new phase of the PPH Programme, the previous Resolution 252 (establishing Phase I) has been revoked.