The number of countries  and regions joining the International Trademark Registration System based on the Madrid Agreement and its Protocol continues to grow.  On October 2, 2019, Brazil took all the necessary steps in order to enter into this list, becoming only the fourth participating country to represent Latin America (after Cuba, Colombia and Mexico).  Starting from this date, Brazilian brand owners can begin using the Madrid System to protect their marks in 121 territories of the other 105 members of the System by submitting a single application and paying a single set of fees.

Earlier, on July 2, 2019, Jair Bolsonar, President of Brazil, deposited with Francis Gurry, the WIPO Director General, the documents on the country’s accession to the three key WIPO trademark treaties – the Madrid Protocol, the Nice Agreement and the Singapore Treaty.

Two-stage payment system

Later, in the framework of Information Declaration No. 54/2019 of August 16, 2019, details of the amount of government fees for the implementation of registration actions were published.  It is curious that Brazil has chosen a two-stage payment system for the corresponding fees:

1) At the first stage, when Brazil is indicated in the framework of a new international application or the  territorial extension of an existing international application for its territory, a fee of 105 Swiss francs is paid for each category of the International Classification of Goods and Services (ICGS) specified in the application.

2) Later, after the National  Institute of Intellectual Property of Brazil (INPI) has made a statement on the compliance of the mark with the conditions for the provision of legal protection, a fee of 188 Swiss francs is paid for each category of the International Classification of Goods and Services (ICGS) specified in the application.

As for the implementation of the procedure for the international registration extension, Brazil is on the list of registered countries paying a fee of 269 Swiss  francs  for each category of the International Classification of Goods and Services (ICGS) specified in the application.

By the way, interestingly,  Brazil has become the last of the ten largest world’s economies (according to the data provided by the International Monetary Fund), which joined the Madrid System for the International  Registration of Marks.  If you are interested in South American markets, it is worth starting with  Brazil, the largest economy in Latin America and in the entire Southern Hemisphere.  Our lawyers are ready to provide you with quality legal aid regarding this  issue, as well as regarding other aspects of the registration and protection of your trademarks in different countries of the world.