Trademark registration guide: Brazil

As the largest economy in Latin America and the tenth-largest economy worldwide, many foreign investors looking into the region are considering doing business in Brazil. Establishing a commercial presence in Brazil gives companies easy access to other countries in the region and allows them to take advantage of strategic trade agreements.

Given Brazil's "First-to-File" system, obtaining trademark protection is highly recommended, even if branded products are not yet sold in the country. Any business wishing to ensure that its brand is well-protected before expanding internationally should have Brazil as a priority country on its trademark list.

The National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) is responsible for examining, granting and administering intellectual property rights (patents, trademarks and designs) in Brazil.

Brazil is a so-called "First-to-File" jurisdiction, meaning applicants who first apply for a trademark are assigned trademark rights and given priority over others, regardless of the actual use of the trademark in commerce. 

It generally takes 18 to 36 months to register a trademark (from filing the application to the final decision), provided there is no objection or opposition lodged against your application. In the event of opposition, the process may take several years.

The fee for filing a trademark application (with the preapproved list of goods and services from which you can select your terms, amount per class): BRL 880 (discounted BRL 440) 

Fee for a filing with a free-text specification/narrow drafting), per class: BRL 1720 (discounted BRL 860)

The filing fee now covers the grant and the first 10 years of protection. There is no separate grant fee.

(*) Discounted fees: a 50% reduction is available to: individuals (only if they hold no interest in a company operating in the field of the item to be registered, provided that the company is not itself already entitled to the discount); micro-entrepreneurs (MEI), micro and small companies, as defined by Complementary Law No. 123 of December 14, 2006; simple innovation companies, as defined by Complementary Law No. 167/2019; scientific, technological and innovation institutions (ICTs), as defined by Law No. 10,973 of December 2, 2004; nonprofit entities; and public bodies. In the case of co-ownership, the discount applies only if all applicants are entitled to it. The discount does not apply to every fee.

Low-income individuals and people with disabilities are entitled to a 100% discount on eligible filing fees, and to the standard 50% discount on other eligible services.

Any individual or legal entity, public or private, can apply for a trademark in Brazil. Private applicants may only register marks related to activities they lawfully carry out, directly or through companies they control, and must declare this in the application (LPI, Art. 128).

Brazilian applicants can file directly. Foreign applicants must appoint and maintain a qualified representative domiciled in Brazil, with powers to represent them before INPI and the courts, including to receive service of process (LPI, Art. 217). This is typically an industrial property agent or a lawyer. The power of attorney must be filed within 60 days of the first act in the proceeding, or the application will be archived (Art. 216, §2). If a foreign owner stops maintaining a Brazilian representative, the registration can be extinguished (Art. 142, IV).

For a trademark to be eligible for registration, it has to meet specific criteria, one of them being distinctiveness. As the purpose of a trademark is to distinguish a recognisable source of goods or services to the consumer, only a sign with at least a minimum level of a distinctive character can achieve this purpose without consumer confusion. The more descriptive or customary a name, logo, or any other brand elements are, the less likely they will be registered by the INPI. You can learn more about registration requirements and the distinctiveness of trademarks by visiting our Trademark Academy.

Another important step in applying for a trademark is ensuring that it is not confusingly similar to already registered marks. Many starting businesses that tried to register their trademarks without prior research have either suffered rejection directly from the INPI or received opposition from their competitors who registered their marks prior to them. In trademark law, those owners who filed their trademarks earlier have way stronger positions over all the similar marks applied for later (as the owners of prior rights can, for example, attack the new similar applications in the opposition proceedings), even if the registration process was not yet completed. As a result, the INPI, in general, recommends searching their trademark database before submitting an application.

By Internet:

When the INPI receives the documentation, it checks for formal errors (incorrect data, non-payment of the administrative fee, lack of documents, etc.) If any deficiencies are detected, an announcement is published in the Official Intellectual Property Gazette (Revista da Propriedade Industrial (RPI)) so that these can be corrected within five days of publication. Applicants are then given an opportunity to respond to such objections and, if appropriate, to amend the application.

After it has been checked and there are no formal deficiencies or objections a mark examined as non-distinctive), or once they have been corrected, an announcement is published in the RPI so that third parties can oppose the application within 60 days.

During the examination process, an examiner may issue official actions, which you must respond to within 60 days.

If the application passed the opposition period or it had been cleared of any opposition proceedings, INPI will proceed and mark the application as registered, for which the fee for the first ten years’ registration and the registration certificate must be paid. The applicant has 60 days to pay the fee from the date on which the INPI published the information about granting the trademark. After such a period has expired, it is still possible to pay the fee during the subsequent 30 days (but with a supplement fee). Finally, the trademark is registered, and the corresponding legal certificate is issued.

After publication in the Official Intellectual Property Gazette, there is a 60-day period during which third parties whose rights are affected may file oppositions with the INPI. If an opposition is filed, the applicant will be notified and given 60 days to reply.

Time: An opposition proceedings before the INPI can take as long as two to four years or even longer.

Cost: 

Fees must be paid within the time limit set by the INPI. If not, the INPI will not consider the opposition or the response. Additionally, as the opposition proceedings can take up to 2-4 years, the total cost of legal proceedings can add up to tens of thousands of dollars.

From 2019 to 2023, Brazil's trademark application success rate averaged 57.15%. The success rate is influenced by several factors, including:

A Brazilian trademark gives protection for 10 years from the date on which the trademark is granted. This can be renewed indefinitely for 10-year periods. There is a possibility to extend the deadline for renewal for an additional cost.

When it comes to filing your trademark application in Brazil, there are three main paths: going through WIPO (Madrid System), filing directly, or using a dedicated service like Trama.

WIPO allows you to file a single application that can cover multiple countries. However, it’s built around your “home” trademark—if that original application is rejected or withdrawn within the first five years, all the international filings linked to it are automatically canceled. You also have to choose from a limited list of goods and services, which often don’t fully capture what your business offers. That limitation alone can lead to weaker protection and more conflicts down the line. Lastly, if any trademark office raises an objection against your application, you’ll need to hire a local attorney yourself to resolve the issue.

Direct filing, on the other hand, avoids the dependency on your home trademark and gives you full flexibility in how you define your products or services. But it’s also more expensive and time-consuming if you're targeting more than a few markets, since each country requires a separate application.

That’s where Trama steps in with a smarter, more flexible solution. We tailor each trademark strategy by combining both WIPO and direct filing, based on what works best for your business. Need protection in countries not covered by WIPO? We file direct. Only targeting a few markets? We avoid the WIPO base fee entirely. Want help with objections? Our network of local attorneys is always just a click away.

In short: Trama gives you the best of both worlds—global coverage, cost efficiency, strong protection, and expert support—without the compromises of doing it alone. Find out more about filing your trademark through Trama.