BRAZIL Industrial Design Regulations

 1. OWNERSHIP

1.1. The request for non-disclosure of the author's name, pursuant to paragraph 4 of article 6 of the LPI must be indicated in the application for registration, and must be attached thereto, as an annex in a sealed envelope, a document of the applicant appointing and identifying the author and the author's statement requesting non-disclosure of his/her appointment.

1.1.1. Pursuant to conference by the INPI, the documents and the statement mentioned above will be maintained in a sealed envelope.

1.2. Pursuant to the request for non-disclosure of the author's name, the INPI will omit such information in the publications related to the subject case, as well as from the copies of the case furnished to third parties.

1.3. In the event of item 1.1., third parties that have a legitimate interest may request to the INPI that the name of the author is disclosed, upon a commitment, under the penalties of the law, not to disclose such information, in excess of the necessary extent to determine and challenge a possible lack of legitimacy.

 2. GRACE PERIOD

2.1. The disclosure of the industrial design will not be considered state of the art if it occurs during the period of one hundred eighty (180) days prior to the date of filing or of the priority of the application for registration of the industrial design, when disclosed according to sections I, II and III of article 12 of the LPI (grace period).

2.2. The applicant may, for the purposes of article 12 of the LPI, on the occasion of the filing of the application, indicate the manner, place and date on which the disclosure occurred, which was disclosed by the applicant itself.

2.3. The INPI may, during the examination, whenever it deems necessary, issue an official action for the filing, in a sixty (60)-day term, of evidence related to such disclosure that are vested with the requisite of certainty in regard to its existence and date, and also the relation of such disclosure, as provides article 12 of the LPI.

 3. PRIORITY

3.1. The priority claim must be evidenced by an appropriate document of origin, containing drawings and, if the case may be, a description and claims, accompanied by an unofficial translation of the certificate of filing or equivalent document.

3.2. If all data that identifies the applications referred in the certificate of filing or equivalent document comply with the application for registration (Form 1.06), the statement may be made on the respective application form, or severally, until the date of filing of such appropriate document, with the same effects of the unofficial translation referred in paragraph 2 of article 16 of the LPI.

3.3. In the event the priority claim is made on the occasion of the filing of the application for registration is supplemented by other priority claims, pursuant to paragraph 1 of article 16 of the LPI, the initial ninety (90)-day term as of the filing of the application for registration (article 99 of the LPI) for the respective evidencing will not be changed.

3.4. If the document that originated the priority pertains to an applicant other than the applicant that filed the application in Brazil, by assignment of rights, a copy of the corresponding document of assignment must be filed, signed on a date prior to the filing in Brazil, or declaration of assignment or equivalent document, being dispensed the notarization/legalization thereof, and accompanied by an unofficial translation or bilingual document.

3.4.1. The formal aspects of the document of assignment of the priority right will be those determined by the law of the country in which the instrument was signed.

3.4.2. It will be presumed assigned the right to the filing and to the priority right in the cases where the applications for registration of the industrial design's applicant is the applicant's employer or the contracting party of the author, provided that the document that evidences such relationship and the assignment of future creations or equivalent document is filed.

3.5. The lack of evidence of the claim of priority provided in article 16 of the LPI will entail the loss of the priority right, except if the party proves that it did not do so for just cause, applying the provisions of article 221 of the LPI.

 4. FILING OF THE APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

4.1. The application for registration of an industrial design, which must always be in Portuguese, must contain:

(I) Application, as per Form No. 1.06;

(II) Description, if the case may be, according to the provisions hereof;

(III) Claims, as per the provisions hereof;

(IV) Drawings or photographs, as provided hereunder;

(V) Field of application of the object;

(VI) Receipt of payment of the official filing fee.

4.2. The application for registration of the industrial design may be sent to the reception of the INPI offices or posted by mail, with notice of receipt to the Patent Office (DIRPA/SAAPAT) at Praça Mauá, 7, indicating thereon the code DVP.

4.2.1. It will be presumed that the applications sent by mail are received on the date posted or the immediately subsequent business day, when posted on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday and at the time of closing of the expedient at the main offices of the INPI in Rio de Janeiro.

4.3. The application that does not formally comply with the provisions of sections (I) through (V) above, but that contains information related to the applicant, the industrial design and the author, comprising designs or photographs that permit the object to be perfectly identified, may be filed, upon dated receipt at the INPI, who will set forth the official actions to be fulfilled in five (5) days as of the acknowledgement thereof, as provides article 226 of the LPI.

4.3.1. Once the official actions regarding the formal aspects are fulfilled, the application for registration will be deemed filed on the date specified in the receipt.

4.3.2. The date to be considered for the effects of filing, if the described object does not correspond to the original text, will be the date of fulfillment of the official action.

4.3.3. In the event of lack of compliance with the official action, the application will be returned to the applicant or will be kept available to the applicant in a specific file at the INPI, until it is possible to be subsequently returned.

4.4. When the application is filed by mail, in the event that additional application forms are sent, for return to the applicant, the applicant must also send an additional envelope, addressed and stamped, for return of the additional application forms by mail, and the INPI will not be liable for such forms going astray. In the event of lack of an addressed and stamped envelope, such additional application forms will remain at the disposal of the applicant at the INPI offices in Rio de Janeiro.

 5. FILING OF THE APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION

5.1. The deposit is defined as the act whereby the INPI, pursuant to a preliminary formal examination, protocols the application for registration of the industrial design under a specific number.

 6. FIVE-YEAR FEES

6.1. The payment of the second five-year fee must be effected during the fifth year as of the date of the filing of the application, and may also be effected within the six months subsequent to such term, regardless of notice, upon payment of an additional fee.

6.2. The payment of the remaining five-year fees must be effected in the same term for extension thereof.

6.2.1. The payment of such five-year fees may be effected within the six (6) months subsequent to the foregoing term, upon payment of an additional fee.

6.3. EVIDENCE OF PAYMENT

6.3.1. The payment of the second five-year fee may be evidenced through Form 1.07.

6.3.1.1. The evidence of payment of the remaining five-year fees, if it is not effected jointly with the request for extension, may be effected through Form 1.07.

6.3.2. The payment of the five-year fee may be evidenced in the course of the term set forth for the payment thereof.

6.3.2.1. The evidencing of the payment of the five-year fee may be effected by the filing of a copy of the slip for the payment of the official fee, copy of bank order or other similar order, that enables the accurate identification of the effected payment, inclusively of the respective five-year fee, if the case may be.

6.3.3. The evidence of payment may be sent to the reception of the INPI offices or at posted in the mail, with notice of receipt.

6.3.4. The evidencing of payment is not subject to the payment of an official fee.

6.4. Effects of the lack of evidencing of payment of the five-year fee.

6.4.1. If the payment is not evidenced, the INPI will issue an official action for the filing of the evidence of payment and it must be fulfilled in a term of sixty (60) days.

6.4.2. If such official action is not fulfilled, the INPI will presume that payment was not effected, and will proceed with the applicable measures.

 7. OTHER PROVISIONS

7.1. POWER OF ATTORNEY

7.1.1. The power of attorney instrument, under the form and terms provided in article 216 of the LPI, if the application is not personally filed by the interested party, may be filed in a term of sixty (60) days as of the performance of the first act of the party in the proceedings, regardless of notice or official action.

7.1.1.1. In the event of an applicant domiciled abroad whose acts were not performed by an attorney-in-fact, pursuant to the provisions of article 216 of the LPI, a power of attorney must be filed as provides article 217 of the LPI, even if the act was personally performed.

7.1.1.2. The power of attorney provided in article 217 of the LPI, if not filed on the occasion of the filing of the application for registration, may be required by the INPI at any time, inclusively after the patent is extinguished, and it must be filed in a term of sixty (60) days.

7.1.1.3. If the power of attorney is not filed in the term of sixty (60) days as of the filing of the application for registration, the application will be considered definitively shelved and published.

7.2. The reductions of the official fees as foreseen may only be accumulated up to a maximum percentage of seventy percent (70%).

7.3. The shelving referred in paragraph 2 of article 216 refers to the petition and an appeal against such shelving decision may be filed.

7.4. The unofficial translations mentioned hereunder must include a representation of the interested party, applicant or owner as to the authenticity thereof.

 8. TERMS

8.1. The request for an extension of a term for the practice of an act that was not performed for just cause must be filed through Form 1.08 with a justification therefor and the applicable evidence.

8.2. In being accepted by the INPI the just cause which impeded the party to practice an act in the legal term, the INPI will notify to the interested party the term granted to it, as provides article 226 of the LPI.

8.3. The term to be granted for the performance of the act will be five (5) days, in the event foreseen by article 103 of the LPI, and, at least, fifteen (15) days up to, at maximum, the legal term for the acts that correspond to the other cases.

 9. GUARANTEE OF PRIORITY

The guarantee of priority claimed in the application for registration pursuant to Law No. 5772/71 will be automatically extinguished if, in a term of six (6) months as of the date of filing, the application for registration is not filed.

 10. NUMBERING

10.1. The number of the applications for registration of an industrial design and the corresponding registration of the industrial design shall consist of three segments and one control digit, namely:

10.1.1. Alphabetic identifier: DI;

10.1.2. Numerical identifier specifying the year of its filing, comprised of two numbers, whereby the second number from left to right indicates the year of the decade, and the first number from left to right corresponds to the decade of the year of filing, minus 4;

10.1.3. Quantifier, crescent annual serial number, comprised of five numbers, beginning with 00001;

10.1.4. Control digit.

 11. SPECIFICATIONS OF THE APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

11.1. DESCRIPTION

11.1.1. If the designs or photographs filed are not sufficient to delimit and clearly define the object and the variations thereof, a description must be compulsorily filed.

11.1.2. The description must:

a) begin with the title;
b) be restricted to the aspects of the ornamental nature of the object;
c) in the event of configuration variations, clearly define that it is a variation of the object of the application, specifying its prevailing characteristic;
d) clearly, accurately and concisely mention the drawings or photographs, and the indicative numbers, if the case may be;
e) define, emphatically, the field of application.

11.2. CLAIM

11.2.1. A claim will be mandatory if the drawings or photographs submitted are not sufficient to clearly delineate and define the object and the variations thereof.

11.2.2. In regard to variants, the claims must be as many as the configuring variations or the conception of the whole, so that each claim is limited to a single variant;

11.2.3. Each claim must be initiated by the title or the corresponding object, if it is related to a set of items or a similar item (such as teapot and cup, in the case of tea set; knife and ladle, in the case of cutlery), with reference to the numeral reference(s) of the pertinent figure(s) or photograph(s), indicating the respective numerical reference(s), if the case may be.

11.3. FIELD OF APPLICATION

11.3.1. It is mandatory to indicate the field of application in the application for registration of an Industrial Design.

11.3.2. A description of the field of application thereof must be clearly defined.

11.3.3. In the case of a set of items, the objects thereof (20 items, at maximum) must be destined for the same purpose, pertain to the same object bearing among themselves the same preponderant characteristics (such as a set of packaging for cosmetic products).

11.3.4. In the case of ornamental patterns comprised of sets of lines and colors, applied to different products, the field of application will specify on which products, or lines of products, such patterns will be applied.

11.3.5. In the case of an ornamental set of lines and colors that may be applied to a product, twenty (20) variations, at maximum, of sets of lines and colors that bear among themselves the same preponderant distinctive aspect.

11.4. DRAWINGS OR PHOTOGRAPHS

11.4.1. The drawings or photographs must:

a) have numbered pages in sequential order, in Arabic numerals, indicating the number and quantity of pages referring to a determined matter, preferably, separated by a diagonal bar (such as 1/5 ... 5/5, whereby 1/5 refers to the first of five pages of the drawings or photographs);

b) contain perspective always in the case of a three-dimensional object and as many views as may be necessary for the perfect view of the object (frontal, back, upper, lower and lateral views);

c) be clearly made and in such a scale that enables its reduction with a definition of details, and may contain several figures on a single page, each clearly separated from the other and sequentially numbered;

d) have sequentially numbered illustrations with an Arabic numeral. If there is more than one view of the same object, such views must be identified by the addition of a decimal number to the number of the such object, as per the number of views.
For example, a teapot set: teapot (fig. 1.1. to 1.5.), cup (fig. 2.1. to 2.4.), small plate (fig. 3) and plate (fig. 4.1. and 4.2.);

e) have the same numerical reference of the description, if the case may be;

f) in the case of drawings or black and white photographs, an indication of the corresponding colored areas;

g) in the case of photographs or colored drawings, submission of the necessary copies, in colors.

11.4.2. In the case of photographs, same must be maintained well-defined during the term of the registration. New copies must be submitted on occasion of the renewal of the registration;

11.4.3. Illustrations related to internal details that do not present merely ornamental aspects will not be considered for effects of Industrial Design protection.

11.4.4. The numbers and letters in the drawings or photographs must have a minimal height of 0.32 cm.

11.4.5. The drawings or photographs cannot be framed or delimited by lines, and must be displayed on paper with the following minimal margins:

margins

upper margin	2.5 cm –- preferably 4 cm
left margin	2.5 cm –- preferably 3 cm
right margin	1.5 cm
lower margin	1 cm

11.5. ADDITIONAL SPECIFICATIONS

11.5.1. TITLE

11.5.1.1. The title shall:

a) be the same for the description and claims;

b) be concise, clear and accurate, without any irrelevant or unnecessary expressions or words (such as "new", "better", "original" and other similar ones).

11.5.2. ADDITIONAL GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS

11.5.2.1. The description and the claims must be typed or printed, with double space, in indelible black ink, free of any amendments, erasure or space between lines, seals, logotypes, inscriptions, signs or indications of any nature.

11.5.2.2. The drawings or photographs cannot include texts, logotypes, seals or initials, except "fig. 1", "fig. 2", etc.

11.5.2.3. All the main documents of the application, namely: description, the claims and drawings must be submitted so as to enable their reproduction.

11.5.2.4. The description, claims and drawings or photographs must be filed in three (3) original copies for use by the INPI, without signatures or initials, in soft, strong, white, straight, non glossy paper, in a 297 mm by 210 mm dimension (Type DIN A-4), used only on one side, without wrinkles, tears or folds, being permitted the submission of more than two original copies, at maximum, for return to the applicant.

11.5.2.5. The pages that contain the description, and also the claims, must:

a) have a text within the following margins;

margins

	Minimum	Maximum
upper margin	3 cm	4 cm -– preferably 4 cm
left margin	3 cm	4 cm
right margin	2 cm	3 cm
lower margin	2 cm	3 cm

b) be sequentially numbered, in Arabic numerals, in the middle of the upper section, between 1 and 2 cm of the edge of the page, indicating the number of the page and the quantity of pages of the description and claims, preferably separated by a diagonal bar (such as 1/5 ...5/5; whereby 1/5 refers to the first of the five pages of the description);

c) have, at the left margin to the text, numbered lines as from the fifth (5th) line, each five lines (5, 10, 15, etc.).

11.6. The request for a photocopy must be filed through Form No. 1.05.

 12. PUBLICATION

12.1. The applications for Registration of Industrial Designs will be published pursuant to the final decision thereon, whether such decision is a grant decision, rejection or definitive shelving.

12.2. The applications that contain drawings or color photographs will be published in colors, and the applicant must pay the corresponding official fee.

 13. RENEWAL

The request for renewal must be filed during the last year of the term of registration and supported by the receipt of payment of the official fee, and may be filed in one hundred eighty (180) days subsequent to such term, regardless of notice and upon payment of a specific additional official fee.

 14. FINAL AND TRANSITORY PROVISIONS

14.1. For the effects of calculation of the payment of the five-year fees for registrations granted originating from pending applications for Industrial Models and Industrial Designs filed during the then effective Law No. 5,772/71, all payments effected referring to services not performed, and also in regard to annuities already paid.

14.1.1. The applicant must effect the payment indicating the values of each official fee already paid and the credit to which it is entitled.

14.1.2. The five-year fees overdue must be paid within a term of sixty (60) days as of the grant of the registration, under penalty of extinction.

14.2. The patent applications for industrial models and for industrial designs filed under the then effective Law No. 5,772/71 and which remain pending will be automatically designated patent applications for industrial design registration and renumbered as provides item 14.4.

14.2.1. The applications in the foregoing status whose publication was not effected during the then effective Law No. 5,772/71 will be deemed for all effects published on May 15, 1997.

14.2.1.1. The applications in the foregoing status will be kept available to any interested party for photocopies or review at the INPI until notification of the publication thereof in the RPI (Official Bulletin).

14.2.1.2. The INPI will notify the publication of the applications in the foregoing status, pursuant to which they will be kept available to the interested party at the CEDIN department.

14.3. The National Classification of Industrial Models and Industrial Designs set forth by Normative Act 104 of December 21, 1989 is applicable to the Registration of Industrial Designs.

14.4. RENUMBERING
The patent applications for industrial models and for industrial designs filed under Law No. 5,772/71 and which remain pending will be renumbered as follows:

14.4.1. INDUSTRIAL MODELS

INDUSTRIAL MODELS

Alphabetical Identifier	will be changed from MI to DI
Numerical Identifier	Unchanged
Quantifier	Unchanged
Verifying Digit	Unchanged

14.4.2. INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS

INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS

Alphabetical Identifier	Unchanged
Numerical Qualifier	will be amended adding 2 to the first number from left to right, corresponding to the decade of its filing.
Quantifier	will be amended and replaced by the number immediately next to the last number given to the industrial models of the year corresponding to its filing.
Control digit	Unchanged

 15.

This Normative Act is effective as of May 15, 1997, being revoked Normative Acts Nos. 013/75, 077/85 and 078/85 and any other provisions to the contrary.