A fast, cost effective ally for protecting and enforcing IP across industries

By Maria Moura Malburg, Partner, Dannemann Siemsen

Design protection in Brazil is becoming a practical, affordable component of an integrated IP strategy. Once underestimated, registered designs now provide rapid, broad protection that complements trademarks, copyright and trade dress - and can be used strategically to deter copyists and strengthen enforcement.

Recent reforms by the Brazilian Patent and Trademarks Office (BPTO) have made design protection noticeably more accessible. New examination guidelines explicitly accept a wider variety of 2D and 3D subject matter that was often rejected in prior years, opening opportunities for designers, brands and manufacturers.

• 2D DESIGNS: GUIs (including animated interfaces) and typographical fonts are now contemplated by the guidelines. This makes design protection a viable, straightforward option for apps, websites, games and digital products that present a distinctive ornamental appearance to an informed user.

• APPLIED ELEMENTS ON 3D OBJECTS: The new guidelines permit inclusion of text, signs, trademarks and copyrighted elements on 3D designs, facilitating coordinated protection of packaging, fashion items and other consumer goods in combination with related IP rights, such as copyright and trade dress.

• SETS OF OBJECTS: Kits (e.g., silverware sets, chess pieces, jewelry collections) and multi-piece products (e.g. cup and saucer, a stereo showing speaker and amplifier) may now be protected by one single design registration, enabling protection of the overall set as an aesthetic unit.

• PARTS OF OBJECTS: Distinctive parts of an article (for example, the body of a PET bottle, must-match parts of vehicles, a sneaker sole or a specific equipment component) may be registered on their own, aligning Brazilian practice with international approaches and allowing targeted protection of distinctive features.

• FUNCTIONAL FEATURES: BPTO tends to adopted a more flexible stance on designs that include technical or functional elements. Products having a technical function (electric components, pieces of furniture, mechanical equipment) may qualify for design protection so long as their appearance is not exclusively determined by technical aspects.

Design registration should definitively be considered as part of an effective IP toolkit: it’s fast to obtain due to its relatively quick and cost effective simplified examination, inexpensive relative to other IP routes, and increasingly enforceable in Brazil. Used alongside trademarks, copyright and trade dress, design protection can close gaps, support enforcement, and add leverage in licensing and commercial negotiations.