Responding Adeptly To Brazil's Trade Mark System

Often clients, unaccustomed to Brazil, fret about the wrong problem, such as the backlog. Alternatively, they try to solve a problem with the wrong solution, like drafting a standard licensing agreement outside Brazil for use worldwide. Take, for example the backlog. For a very long time fretting about trade mark rights in Brazil centred on the delays of the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BPTO) rather than its technical performance.

However, in all likelihood, the problem of backlog is about to be solved as the BPTO released its 2018 goals and is officially aiming for an 18 month window from application to outcome for trade marks with or without obstacles. Currently this window is 30 months. The goal of the BPTO is to become a signatory to the Madrid Protocol by 2019. In the past couple of years it has reduced its backlog to 15% and is working for a further reduction of 11.7% in this year alone.