The accession of Brazil to the Madrid Protocol, in October 2019, brought not only a new way of protecting trademarks for Brazilian businessmen abroad, but also significant changes for those professionals working in the area of trademarks as well as challenges. One of these challenges is the translation of the names of various ingredients from the cuisine, drinks, typical dishes, musical instruments, and artistic expressions into English or Spanish, languages adopted by Brazil for the use of the Madrid Protocol. Not infrequently, what is expressed in the source language in a single term needs to be translated into a sentence in order to be understood.

Typical Brazilian products and services are included in the WIPO classifier

A beautiful initiative by members of the Brazilian Patent Office’s (BPTO) Products and Services Classification Commission (CCPS), together with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), resulted in the formulation of a robust list of typically Brazilian products and services and their inclusion in the classification nomenclatures of this entity, in the so-called Madrid Goods and Services Manager (MGS), with the respective translation. There are 668 descriptions of the most varied fruits, dishes, drinks, and services typically Brazilian.

According to information on the BPTO’s own website, the elaboration of this list aims to prevent offices in other countries from granting protection as a trademark for designations that are actually descriptive of the product or service itself. This study took into account the fact that not only Brazilian legislation, but also that of the vast majority of countries prohibit registration as a trademark of descriptive and/or generic terms in relation to the products or services of interest.

In addition, it is necessary to pay attention to the principle of the veracity of trademark preaches. By virtue of this principle, a trademark cannot be misleading, that is, it cannot mislead the consumer or in an improper association as to origin, composition, place of production, among other factors.

The compilation of these product and service descriptions and their inclusion in the Madrid Goods and Services Manager (MGS) with the English language equivalent can be considered an important milestone and a commendable effort, not only for the reasons already explained but also for corroborating aspects of our culture and tradition.

News from: ConJur