Reform of Laws on the Subject of Intellectual Property and Unlawful Competition

Following the footsteps of other various countries, amongst which is Italy, Brasil has recently introduced an extensive reform of all laws on the subject of intellectual property and unlawful competition, in this case with a single statute which almost amounts to a national Intellectual Property Code.

Amongst the most significant changes to previous rules are the abolition of the pre-existent statutory limits which prevented the granting of patents for inventions and utility models related to foodstuffs, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals (while software, vegetal and and animal species and inventions related to transformation of atomic nuclei still remain non-patentable for the time being); the possibility for trade mark registration applicants to provide evidence of the legally required conduct of a related business with regard to a controlled company instead of the applicant himself; the abolition of the distinction between "ornamental designs" (bidimensional) e "ornamental models" (tridimensional), the owners of which are no longer required to apply for a patent in order to gain legal protection, but need only register the same.

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