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As well as the special treatment given to FIFA’s World Cup sponsors, there are other causes for concern regarding procedures at Brazil’s trademark authority. Rodrigo Sérgio Bonan de Aguiar reports.
A trademark registered in Brazil that is considered ‘highly renowned’ is assured of special protection in all fields of activity. This concept was introduced by Article 125 of Law No. 9,279 of May 14, 1996—the Industrial Property Law (IPL).
Previously, special protection was assured to well-known marks under Article 67 of Law No. 5,772 of December 21, 1971—the now-revoked Industrial Property Code (CPI).
For 25 years, Brazil had a single administrative procedure that allowed the abstract declaration of well-known status to a mark by way of special registration. Recognition was direct, by way of an autonomous petition filed before the Brazilian National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI). The requirements included awareness of the mark by the public at large, outside the specific market sector. This petition was not pegged to any other administrative proceedings and, once well-known status was recognised, this status remained in effect for the validity term of the basic registration, and was extendable for equal and successive periods.
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INPI, IPL, Paris Convention, Fifa, World Cup
