Brazil prepares to join Madrid Protocol

Brazil’s IP policies are not quite Madrid-ready, and many changes will need to be made before it likely joins the Protocol later this year In preparation to join the Madrid Protocol, the Brazilian patent and trade mark office – Instituto Nacional da Propriedade Industrial (INPI) – has been working to reduce its backlog of trade mark applications. INPI is rushing to reduce the backlog because the Madrid Protocol imposes an 18-month deadline to process trade mark registration applications. Another possible change at INPI is clarification of how to protect slogans and advertising expressions. Since trade mark law amendments in 1997, slogans cannot be registered as trademarks, and the definition of expressions and slogans is also unclear.