Last week, the federal government publicized Brazil’s adherence to the 1999 Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement for the International Protection of Industrial Design. With the adhesion deposit, Brazilian holders of Industrial Design will be able to count on protection in another 96 countries.

The Geneva Act seeks to protect industrial designs through a single submission to the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Since 1978, Brazil has been a member of the international patent granting system (Patent Cooperation Treaty), joining the international trademark registration system (Madrid Agreement) in 2019.

The participation of the country will open space for the simplification and reduction of bureaucracy in the rite, which will enable greater agility in the processing of requests for protection of the intellectual property of national users and cost reduction through the protocol of a single request to signatory countries of the agreement. The new process will exempt the opening of diligences in several bodies specific to each of the countries, as well as standardize the payment of fees in a single currency (Swiss francs) and will use only one language for protocols (French, English or Spanish).

Companies and users from signatory countries will have the same ease of registration of designs in the Brazilian market, enabling greater investment attraction. Countries like the United States and Japan, as well as the European Union, will be able to count on Brazilians requesting the protection of Industrial Designs.

The kickoff for the formalization of accession took place in early 2022. As a rite for treaties, agreements, covenants and international acts by Brazil, the Executive Branch forwarded a Message (MSC 99/2022) to Congress in March 2022, resulting in a Draft Legislative Decree (PDL 274/2022) by the Committee on Foreign Affairs after three months, with enactment signed in October by Congress chair Rodrigo Pacheco.

According to news published on the Brazilian government website, the BPTO will be able to receive requests for Industrial Designs, via the Hague System, starting August 1, 2023, as soon as the Agreement enters into force.