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HOT TOPIC – BPTO and EPO sign agreement to broaden cooperation between both Patent Offices On July 17, 2019, the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BPTO) and the European Patent Office (EPO) signed a joint declaration aiming at strengthening the search and examination capacity of patent applications at the BPTO. The presidents of both PTOs (...)

Brazilian court affirms that the sale by Adidas of t-shirts with the colors green and yellow does not constitute unfair competition According to a recent decision1 issued by judge Paulo Assed Estefan, of the 4th Business Court of Rio de Janeiro, Adidas may sell yellow shirts with green collars, which supposedly resemble the uniform used (...)

New trade agreement recognizes Brazilian products as geographical indications before the European Union On June 28, 2019, a new free trade agreement was announced between Mercosur and the European Union. Signed after more than 20 years of negotiation, the agreement recognizes 38 products as original from the Brazilian territory, which increases the protection and promotes (...)

Following its Strategic Plan for 2018-2021, the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BPTO) continues to expand international cooperation through Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) agreements. On July 1, 2019, the BPTO launched the third phase of the PPH agreement with other 8 patent offices from PROSUL: Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Costa Rica. (...)

The President confirms Brazil’s accession to the Madrid Protocol The President of the Republic of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, signed the instrument of Brazil’s accession to the Madrid Protocol on June 25, 2019, as approved by the Bill of Legislative Decree No. 98/2019. The Madrid Protocol will come into effect at the international level 90 days after (...)

STJ decides on the obligation of storing users’ registration data According to a decision issued by the 3rd Panel of the Superior Court of Justice, Internet access providers have the legal duty to store their users’ data, including the information collected before the enactment of the Brazilian Civil Rights Framework for the Internet (Law No. (...)

The Small Claims Court of Frutal – MG issued a decision1  holding that marketplace platforms are not responsible for defective products sold by its users. The lawsuit was filed by a user who bought a waterproof mobile phone on the Mercado Livre website and, after using the product in water, it presented several defects, which (...)

In a recent decision¹, the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice (“STJ”) confirmed the understanding that, in cases of evocative or suggestive trademarks, the exclusivity conferred by a registration must be mitigated, since this type of trademark has a low degree of distinctiveness. In this case, American Airlines filed a nullity lawsuit against the Brazilian Patent (...)