Betcha, Can’t Plant Nor Just One!
By Maria Sol Porro, Trademark Lawyer
The PepsiCo company, owner of well-known trademarks such as Pepsi, Lays, Gatorade and Doritos, filed a lawsuit against a group of Indian farmers for cultivating the same species of potatoes that the corporation produces, known as “CF5”, designed to contain less water than normal varieties and get the ideal physical properties that the final product demands.
In this context, PepsiCo is seeking compensation of 10 million rupees (USD 143,000.-) from each Farmer but it remarks that the farmers who are sued are not among the thousands who have authorized to grow the registered variety of potatoes. On the other hand, associations of farmers and activists in India request the Government of this country to intervene and take action against PepsiCo, based on the Indian agricultural law that allows to plant, grow and market any agricultural product (including seeds), provided that the registered trademark is not being used.
However, this conflict is not simply limited to the possibility of growing potatoes in western India, but the basis of the problem is related to an intellectual property right, perhaps less popular, known as “plant variety”. This right gives the owner the ¨ownership¨ and ¨protection¨ of the …
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Brazilian PTO Continues its efforts to Improve Performance Output
By Maria Belen Priore, Patents Department
We hereby inform the last news published by the Brazilian INPI’s official gazette in the past two weeks.
We would like to highlight two new rules, in where we found special interest that may benefit our clients.
The Official Gazette number 2515 launched a Resolution under number 236/19 that establishes the beginning of phase IV of the pilot project to accelerate examination for small and medium-sized Brazilian companies.
Official Gazette number 2516 publishes a normative instruction that aims to improve the Brazilian INPI’s performance, regarding the appeals submitted against rejections of trademarks and industrial designs, which are still pending of resolution, due to the backlog suffered.
The INPI launched this new normative instruction under number 101/19 which encourages the sectors that are responsible, to solve 31.000 pending resolutions in a year’s time.
This normative instruction establishes new transitory rules, including the issuance of a decree that will be dictated by the sectors DIRMA (Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications Direction) and CGREC (General Coordinator of Appeals and Administrative Proceedings of nullity). This decree will determine criteria to be applied in order to comply with this instruction, and shall be issued as soon as …
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Trade Names and Trademarks in South America: the Case of Brazil
By Moeller IP Advisors
In today’s competitive economy, business owners need to ensure adequate IP protection for their company by registering their trademark, patent, copyright and last but not least, trade name. It is particularly important to differentiate between trademarks and trade names: a trade name is the name that identifies a company after the registration into the commercial registry. While trademarks and trade names tend to match, their registration follows different procedures and entails different legal consequences.
In Brazil, problems arise when a company registers a trade name that is the same as an existing trademark: the trademark owner cannot directly oppose the registration in front of the commercial registry, even when the trademark is well-known.
The situation is complicated by the fact that each of the 26 Brazilian states has its own commercial registry. This can be particularly tricky for foreign companies: even if the trademark owner has a subsidiary registered at a state commercial registry, the registration will not be double-checked in the registries of other states. The commercial registry is likely to decline the registration if the commercial name of the applicant company is identical to an existing trade name in that particular state registry.
What …
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