Evolving Industrial Design Protection in Brazil: Recent Changes and Challenges

Over the past two years, Brazil has made significant strides toward aligning its industrial design protection framework with international standards. Key developments, including its accession to the Hague Agreement and the publication of a comprehensive BPTO (Brazilian PTO) manual for industrial designs, aim to enhance Brazil’s industrial competitiveness and ease of doing business. These advancements, while promising, also reveal areas where improvements are still desired.

1. Brazil Joins the Hague System

On August 1, 2023, Brazil officially became a member of the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement, administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). This accession enables Brazilian applicants to file a single international application for industrial designs, securing protection across 96 member countries. It also allows the BPTO to receive a higher volume of design registration applications from foreign applicants, thereby promoting the international competitiveness of Brazilian designs and improving access to global markets through more efficient protection mechanisms.

2. Launch of the New Brazilian Manual for Industrial Designs

Since 2019, the BPTO has worked to consolidate guidelines for examining design applications through the Manual for Industrial Designs. The second edition, launched in September 2023, introduces significant updates (including those related to the Hague Agreement), such as:

• Recognition of non-traditional designs, such as animated interfaces;
• Admission of partial designs using dashed disclaimers and designs incorporating texts or trademark elements;
• Acceptance of advanced disclosure resources, such as exploded or enlarged views and interruption lines;
• Simplification of the procedures for preparing and filing design applications through a reformulated electronic filing platform.

These updates aim to enhance transparency, consistency, and efficiency in the design registration process.

3. Statistics on Industrial Designs in Brazil

Between 2014 and 2021, the number of design filings in Brazil remained stable, with annual filings ranging from approximately 6,000 to 6,700. However, with the movement to align Brazilian protection standards with internationally practiced norms, it is possible to anticipate an increase in the participation of foreign applicants in design registration applications over the coming years. A slight increase in filings has already been observed. In 2022 and 2023, the BPTO received 7,196 and 7,054 design application filings, respectively, representing a 13% increase compared to the previous years’ average. For 2024, 7,276 design applications were filed, in line with the expectations for the year.

4. Impacts on the Industry

The modernization of Brazil’s design protection framework is expected to attract new sectors beyond traditional industries such as automotive and electronics, long dominated by companies from China, Europe, Japan, and the United States.

In addition to the harmonization of protection requirements with global practices, Brazil’s accession to the Hague System simplifies global filing, reduces costs, and strengthens its reputation as a strategic jurisdiction in Latin America.

Domestically, the potential for growth remains untapped, especially in industries beyond furniture, clothing, and cutlery, which already exhibit strong performance.

These changes position Brazil as a key player in the global intellectual property landscape.

5. Areas for Improvement

Brazil’s legal structure is already considered modern and aligns with many key provisions adopted by the Design Law Treaty, recently finalized at the WIPO Diplomatic Conference in Riyadh (November 2024). These provisions include the possibility of flexible representations of designs (e.g., photographs, drawings, rendered images), a grace period (currently fixed at 180 days), multiple variations in a single registration, and a simplified and fast registration procedure.

Despite these advancements, Brazil’s design protection system still requires further refinement. Key areas for improvement include:

• Providing more detailed guidelines for evaluating originality and functionality;
• Allowing voluntary division of design applications, rather than restricting divisions to cases triggered by office actions;
• Implementing clearer procedures for handling invalidation requests for multi-design registrations.

Addressing these gaps will further enhance the efficiency and appeal of Brazil’s legal framework for design protection.

Conclusion

While the changes have already shown promising results, including increased design filings and broader global interest, further improvements are necessary to refine originality assessment criteria, enhance application division processes, and address other procedural gaps. By continuing to evolve its design protection system, Brazil can foster a vibrant ecosystem for industrial design, benefiting its economy and creative sectors alike.