Administered by INPI under Federal Industrial Property Law No.9279/1996, Brazil joined
the Madrid Protocol in 2019 and adopts a first-to-file trademark system. Two core
non-negotiable compliance rules severely impact overseas FMCG and fashion brands:
permanent local licensed Brazilian IP attorney required for all foreign applicants and
strict five consecutive years’ genuine domestic commercial use to avoid full trademark
revocation. A French cosmetics brand lost its national registration entirely due to
unrepresented Madrid office action replies and incomplete local sales evidence. This
case clarifies INPI examination standards and delivers streamlined cross-border operational
guidance.
A French organic cosmetic brand filed an international Madrid registration in 2022 and
designated Brazil for Class 3 beauty goods. INPI issued a provisional refusal citing descriptive
wording on goods, requiring a formal rebuttal within 60 days. The overseas IP team made two
fatal procedural mistakes: First, they submitted English rebuttal materials directly via WIPO
without appointing an INPI-qualified Brazilian local attorney and Portuguese certified
translations, so INPI discarded all submissions without substantive review. Second, after
the mark was eventually registered, the brand only supplied cross-border e-commerce
parallel imports without Brazilian VAT invoices, Portuguese packaging or local distributor
contracts. A domestic competitor filed a five-year non-use revocation petition in late 2025.
Unable to produce qualified domestic use proof, INPI fully revoked the trademark in early
2026. The French brand spent over 112,000 euros on re-filing, legalization and translation
fees, losing three years of Latin American market share to local counterfeit merchants.
Mandatory resident Brazilian IP attorney for all foreign holders (LPI Article 129). Any
enterprise or individual without permanent domicile or legal business address inside Brazil
must retain a locally licensed industrial property attorney for all trademark procedures,
including initial Madrid designation, oppositions, refusals, revocation defenses and renewals.
Direct communication between foreign applicants and WIPO or INPI without a local
representative generates null procedural acts; a fully legalized power of attorney with
Portuguese translation must be filed within 60 days of any official noticemanualdedi....
Five-year continuous genuine domestic use revocation mechanism (LPI Article 143). A
registered trademark will be wholly or partially revoked if the owner cannot prove
uninterrupted commercial use across Brazil for five full years post-registration. Pure overseas
online sales, cross-border logistics slips and foreign social media promotion do not count as
valid local use. Acceptable evidence includes Brazilian VAT tax invoices, Portuguese product
packaging, offline retail display records and formal domestic distributor cooperation
contracts; only force majeure qualifies as a narrow statutory exceptionGOV.BR.
60-day fixed response deadline for INPI official actions. After receiving provisional refusal,
opposition or revocation notices, applicants have exactly 60 calendar days to submit full
Portuguese-language rebuttal materials via the designated local attorney. No automatic
extension is granted for overseas mail delays or attorney scheduling conflicts; overdue
replies trigger automatic abandonment of trademark rights.
30-day opposition publication window and 10-year renewable registration term. Marks
passing substantive examination are published in the weekly INPI Industrial Property
Gazette for 30 days for third-party opposition. Trademark protection lasts 10 years from
registration date, with a 12-month pre-expiry normal renewal window plus a 6-month
surcharged grace period with extra official fees.
Mandatory Portuguese translation for all evidentiary filings. Every foreign document
(priority certificates, overseas ownership papers, sales records) submitted to INPI must carry
certified Portuguese translations. Untranslated English, French or Spanish materials are
completely excluded from review with zero probative weight.
● Appoint an INPI-registered local Brazilian IP attorney before adding Brazil to any Madrid
international registration, and prepare a pre-legalized Portuguese power of attorney ready
for urgent official action responses.
● Systematically archive complete Brazilian localized use evidence (VAT invoices, Portugues
packaging, retail photos) from the launch of local sales to defend against five-year non-use
revocation petitions.
● Track the 60-day absolute response deadline for all INPI notices independently of WIPO
timelines to avoid automatic trademark lapse.
● Complete trademark renewal 12 months in advance to evade costly grace-period
surcharges and registration termination.
● Uniformly arrange certified Portuguese translations for all overseas priority and
ownership documents prior to submitting any INPI filing.
Brazil’s trademark regime is built around the permanent local attorney mandate and
five-year domestic genuine use revocation rule, establishing strict procedural and
evidentiary thresholds for foreign brands expanding into Latin America. This French cosmetic
revocation case fully proves unrepresented WIPO submissions and incomplete localized
commercial evidence lead to irreversible loss of nationwide trademark exclusivity. For
overseas beauty, apparel and beverage brands targeting Brazil and Mercosur markets, retaining
a licensed local Brazilian IP attorney, long-term preservation of Portuguese-language
domestic sales records and timely translation of all foreign documents are mandatory
safeguards to maintain stable valid trademark rights.
Hyperlink List：
● IPcrossark:
IPcrossark—Reliable IP Registration Platform | Trademark, Patent & Copyright Help
● INPI Official English Trademark Homepage for Foreign Madrid Filers:
https://www.gov.br/inpi/en/services/trademarks
● WIPO Lex Full English Version of Brazil Federal Industrial Property Law No.9279/1996:
