Article | 2nd Edition of the Industrial Designs Manual presents new rules for registration in Brazil

At the beginning of October, the 2nd edition of the Industrial Designs Manual came into force, as published by the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BRPTO) on September 6, 2023, through Ordinance/INPI/PR No. 36. This new edition of the Manual is a result of a long work performed by the Institute, with the participation of external collaborators through public consultation.

It is important to note that the 2^nd version of the Manual comes at an opportune time, as Brazil recently joined the Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs (ID). This new edition brings harmonization of the ID Manual with the Guidelines of the Hague System, which can be checked on the WIPO website.

Some relevant changes comparing to the previous Manual include the need to differentiate, through graphic resources (e.g.: continuous lines, dashed lines, or colorization), what is claimed from what is contextual. This understanding is closer to the guidelines of the WIPO Hague System.

Another difference is now the possibility of registering a typographic family, which was not allowed in the previous edition.

The inclusion of partial or full trademark representation is now also allowed, noting that this inclusion does not extend any trademark rights to the owner of the Industrial Design registration. The current Manual also brought the possibility of protecting Industrial Designs that include textual elements of any nature, in any language, which, in accordance with the previous edition, was not acceptable. The inclusion of characters, words, or textual elements that refer to indications, dimensions, measurements, signatures, titles, stamps, etc., is still not allowed, and their removal can be requested by the Examiner.

Referring to the registration of dynamic graphical interfaces, it is established that it should be made through the representation of static figures in the order of display. In other words, the frames must be presented.

Some peculiarities of Brazilian practice remain in the new Manual, such as the limitation of 20 variations per ID registration application, despite the Hague Agreement limitation of 100 variations. Important to remember that this limitation of 20 variations is a restriction presented in Article 104 of Law 9,279 of 1996 (IPL).

The new edition of the Manual also brought a new section dedicated to the Hague Agreement, presenting an overview, information on registration, and other information on means of communication, requests, deadlines, and compensation.

To know more about registering an Industrial Design in Brazil by the national via or by using the Hague System, contact us at international@simoes-ip.com

To read more (in Portuguese), please access https://www.gov.br/inpi/pt-br/central-de-conteudo/noticias/2a-edicao-do-manual-de-desenhos-industriais-ja-esta-disponivel

To read more about the guidelines of the WIPO Hague System, please access: https://www.wipo.int/hague/en/guide

Author: Tainara Barbosa