Lawyer Monthly Magazine -December 2019 Edition

that oversees the administration of the Industrial Property Act. Trademark System in Brazil Trademark protection in Brazil can only be obtained through a trademark application filed in Brazil. The application may be filed directly in Brazil or through the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, which is an international treaty administered by the World Intellectual Property Organisation. Further, Brazil is a party to the Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services. All visibly perceptible signs which are distinctive are eligible to be registered as trademarks. However, the registration of non-traditional marks, such as sound marks and colour marks, is prohibited Brazilian Adhesion to the Madrid Protocol The legislation paving the way for Brazilian adhesion to the Madrid Protocol was approved by the Brazilian Senate on 22 May 2019. The Protocol, which entered into force on 2 October 2019, is administered by the World Intellectual Property Organisation and facilitates the international filing and registration of trademarks in a cost-effective and streamlined manner in over 100 countries, with Malaysia being the latest to join the bandwagon on 27 September 2019. A trademark registered under the Madrid Protocol is valid for ten years from the date on which the mark is recorded in the International Register and can be renewed for successive ten-year periods. Trademark Filings in Brazil In the year 2018, the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office received more than 200,000 trademark applications, which corresponds to an approximately 10% year-over- year increase in the number of trademark applications. The year 2018 turned out to be a watershed year in the operations of the Brazilian Patent and TrademarkOffice, with theOffice revolutionizing its trademark application processing times to 13 months for applications with opposition and 12 months for applications without opposition, as compared to 48 months and 24 months, respectively, in 2017. The Office further intends to reduce its trademark application processing times to eight months for applications with opposition and four months for applications without opposition. These substantial reductions in trademark application processing times augur well for the Brazilian adhesion to the Madrid Protocol, under which an international trademark application must be processed within either 12 months or 18 months from the filing date of the application for international trademark registration. How Much Does Trademark Registration Cost in Brazil? Let us now discuss the costs involved in filing a trademark application in Brazil and, subsequently, getting it registered. Typically, there are three categories of costs involved: official fees, attorney charges, and translation costs. The costs are generally dependent on the number of classes of goods and services under which the trademark application is filed. The current version of the ‘International Classification of Goods and Services’ (Nice Agreement 45 DEC 2019 | WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM Special Feature By Anthony De Andrade, CEO Quantify IP, Venkatesh Viswanath and Bandita Panda “The costs are generally dependent on the number of classes of goods and services under which the trademark application is filed.”