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Digital influencer will be indemnified for account improperly excluded on Instagram The 1st Small Claims Court of Aracaju ordered Facebook to pay approximately USD 750 due to moral damages caused to a user who had its Instagram account improperly excluded1. The lawsuit was filed by a user who had his Instagram account excluded because a (...)

Suspension of deadlines during Carnival The Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office will be closed from 1pm on March 1 to March 6, 2019. All administrative deadlines expiring on these dates will be automatically extended to March 7, 2019. Deadlines before courts of the states of Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo will be (...)

The public performance of music in street Carnival parties is not free from the collection of royalties by ECAD (the entity responsible for the management of public performance rights in Brazil). ECAD records some of the events in order to identify the songs and distribute the collected royalties proportionally among composers, performers, publishers and phonogram (...)

Masks of famous faces during Carnival: cultural expression or violation of right of publicity? Carnival is one of the largest and oldest Brazilian cultural manifestations. Over the years, some habits around this festivity have emerged, such as wearing costumes and props. In this context, masks of famous faces achieved popularity, which resulted in a discussion (...)

The Third Panel of the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice affirmed the decision¹ ordering the entity responsible for domain names “.br” (“NIC.br”) to pay damages to the actress Carolina Ferraz due to the registration of a pornographic website under the actress’ name. In this case, the actress filed a lawsuit against K1 and NIC.br, seeking (...)

The Fourth Panel of the Superior Court of Justice[1] held that a court expert opinion is required to verify trade dress infringement, which constitutes unfair competition. According to the Panel, a comparative analysis by courts of photographs alone would not be enough to provide that the trade dress of a product or service creates confusion (...)

Ministry of Justice files administrative proceeding against Google Brasil for privacy violation The National Consumer Secretariat of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security filed an administrative proceeding against Google Brasil after receiving a complaint from the Federal Prosecution Service. The Department of Consumer Protection and Defense reported that there are indications of privacy violation (...)

BPTO issues new Normative Instruction regarding electronic registration of software On February 12, 2019, the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BPTO) issued Normative Instruction No. 99/2019, setting the electronic registration procedures for computer programs. Said Resolution reiterates the procedures established in the Normative Instruction No. 74/2017, now revoked, and brings clarification on the transfer of (...)