Your U.S. Counterpart for Brazilian Clients
Seu correspondente nos Estados Unidos para clientes brasileiros.
INPI Brazil receives more trademark filings than any other office in Latin America, and Brazilian applicants send more U.S. designations through Madrid than any other Latin American country. We act as U.S. attorney of record for clients of Brazilian firms, answer USPTO refusals of INPI designations, and work through qualified Portuguese translators.
Trademark activity in Brazil and at the USPTO
INPI Brazil recorded 468,667 trademark class counts in 2024, up 90% from 2019. Brazilian owners filed 3,445 U.S. applications from 2021 to 2025, 13% of them through Madrid.
Trademark filings at INPI Brazil
Class count in applications filed at INPI Brazil, direct and via Madrid, by applicant residence.
View data table
| Year | Total | Resident | Non-resident |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 246,242 | 218,764 | 27,478 |
| 2020 | 297,932 | 260,776 | 37,156 |
| 2021 | 394,022 | 346,752 | 47,270 |
| 2022 | 404,148 | 355,877 | 48,271 |
| 2023 | 427,226 | 387,170 | 40,056 |
| 2024 | 468,667 | 425,953 | 42,714 |
U.S. applications filed by Brazilian owners
USPTO applications per filing year from owners with an address in Brazil. The 2026 bar covers January through September.
View data table
| Filing year | Filed | Registered to date | Via Madrid |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 630 | 357 | 70 |
| 2022 | 657 | 364 | 83 |
| 2023 | 670 | 376 | 90 |
| 2024 | 826 | 400 | 122 |
| 2025 | 662 | 167 | 94 |
| 2026 (Jan.–Sept.) | 500 | 32 | 57 |
Madrid traffic between Brazil and the U.S.
Designations recorded by WIPO each year: Brazilian holders designating the United States, and U.S. holders designating Brazil.
From 2020 to 2025, U.S. holders designated Brazil about 28 times as often as Brazilian holders designated the United States.
View data table
| Year | U.S. designated by Brazilian holders | Brazil designated by U.S. holders | All designations of Brazil | International applications filed through INPI Brazil | Provisional refusals issued by INPI Brazil |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 63 | 2,132 | 9,551 | 142 | 106 |
| 2021 | 89 | 3,319 | 12,701 | 188 | 2,738 |
| 2022 | 86 | 3,033 | 12,100 | 162 | 3,196 |
| 2023 | 94 | 2,550 | 11,093 | 187 | 3,309 |
| 2024 | 128 | 2,646 | 11,605 | 253 | 2,330 |
| 2025 | 109 | 2,475 | 12,074 | 212 | 3,189 |
Madrid designations received by INPI Brazil
All designations of Brazil in international applications and subsequent designations, from every origin.
In 2025, U.S. holders made 20% of the 12,074 designations of Brazil. INPI Brazil issued 3,189 provisional refusals that year.
How we counted. National-office figures are class counts (applications multiplied by the classes they name) from the WIPO IP Statistics Data Center, May 2026 update, covering direct and Madrid filings. Madrid figures are WIPO counts by date of receipt at the International Bureau through 2025. USPTO figures count applications by filing date where an owner's address is in Brazil, from USPTO records retrieved October 27, 2026.
The U.S.-attorney rule for Brazilian clients
Since August 3, 2019, applicants and registrants domiciled in Brazil must be represented before the USPTO by an attorney licensed in a U.S. state. Brazil's Madrid membership took effect on October 2, 2019, so every U.S. designation from Brazil has been subject to the rule from the start.
U.S. examiners require a level of specificity in goods and services that Brazilian specifications rarely meet, especially for software, fintech, and cosmetics. Most refusals of INPI designations turn on identification, not on conflicts.
What this means for your firm
- You keep the client relationship and the strategy
- We are attorney of record and correspondence address at the USPTO
- Every USPTO notice comes to you with our recommendation
- We send U.S.-originated work in Brazil back to you
What we handle for your Brazilian clients
The full U.S. life of a mark, from the first filing to enforcement, under your instructions.
Direct U.S. filings
Use, intent-to-use, Section 44(e) home-registration, and Section 44(d) priority applications.
Madrid refusals
Responses to USPTO provisional refusals of designations of the United States.
Office actions
Arguments and amendments on likelihood of confusion, descriptiveness, specimens, and identification.
TTAB matters
Oppositions, cancellations, ex parte appeals, letters of protest, and expungement or reexamination petitions.
Maintenance
Section 8 and Section 71 declarations, Section 15 affidavits, Section 9 renewals, and docketing every U.S. deadline.
Recordals
Assignments, mergers, and name changes recorded with the USPTO Assignment Recordation Branch.
Enforcement
Cease-and-desist letters, U.S. Customs recordation, Amazon Brand Registry, and coordination with litigation counsel.
Built for the instructing firm
- Conflict checkWe clear conflicts before any substantive work, usually within one business day.
- Associate agreementA short written agreement sets reporting, billing, and client-contact rules.
- InstructionsBy email, in English or Spanish, with Portuguese through a translator. We confirm receipt and the deadline the same day.
- ReportingWe report to your firm, not to your client, unless you ask us to copy the client.
- FeesFixed fees for standard actions, invoiced in U.S. dollars with wire instructions; government fees at cost.
Where U.S. filings from Brazil go wrong
The issues we see most often in U.S. matters sent by Brazilian firms, and how we deal with each.
Software and fintech identifications
U.S. practice separates downloadable software (Class 9), online software services (Class 42), and financial services (Class 36), each with its own required wording.
We draft U.S. wording before the INPI international application, or amend in response.
Central attack risk
Oppositions at INPI are common. For five years the U.S. designation depends on the Brazilian basic filing.
For contested brands, we recommend a direct U.S. filing in parallel.
Portuguese terms and translations
Every non-English word must be translated in the U.S. application. Portuguese words that describe the product are refused under the doctrine of foreign equivalents.
We review the translation and descriptiveness before filing.
Marketplace timing
Brazilian consumer brands entering the U.S. need a U.S. application for Amazon Brand Registry and a registration for CBP recordation. Designations can take more than a year to register.
We file early and track examination.
Section 71 declarations
Madrid registrations need proof of U.S. use between years 5 and 6. Brazilian holders often miss the separate U.S. deadline because it is not on the WIPO renewal schedule.
We docket every Section 71 deadline for your clients.
Work flows both ways
U.S. holders designated Brazil in about 2,500 to 3,300 Madrid filings a year from 2021 to 2025, and INPI Brazil issued 3,189 provisional refusals in 2025. We send Brazilian prosecution and opposition work to the firms that send us U.S. matters.
We do not practice Brazilian law. When a U.S. client needs protection in Brazil, the matter goes to Brazilian counsel, and we report the result to our client.
What to send with an instruction
- Client name, entity type, and country of organization
- Full address of domicile (street address, not a P.O. box)
- The mark as filed at home, with any color claim and translation
- Home filing or registration number and date (for priority or Section 44(e))
- Goods and services, ideally already in U.S. ID Manual wording
- U.S. use dates and a specimen, if the client already sells in the U.S.
- For Madrid refusals: the WIPO notification and the USPTO refusal
- The response or filing deadline you are working to
Frequently asked questions
Do you work in Portuguese?
Our attorneys work in English and Spanish. Portuguese documents and correspondence are handled through qualified translators, and we report to you in English or Spanish.
Do you answer USPTO refusals of designations filed through INPI?
Yes. We review the provisional refusal, propose amended wording or arguments, and file the response as U.S. attorney of record.
How are your fees structured for associate work?
Standard actions, such as a new application, a response to a routine refusal, or a Section 71 declaration, carry fixed professional fees, listed in our associate fee schedule. Contested work is billed by the hour or on a quoted budget. Government fees are passed through at cost, and invoices are in U.S. dollars.
How quickly do you act on an instruction?
We confirm receipt and the deadline the same business day and clear conflicts before substantive work. For urgent deadlines, tell us the date in your first email.
Should our client file through Madrid or directly?
Madrid is efficient for multi-country filings when the INPI filing is secure. A direct U.S. filing avoids dependence on the Brazilian filing and is better for contested brands or U.S.-first launches.
Will you contact our client directly?
No, unless you ask us to. We report to you and copy the client only on your instruction.
Request our associate fee schedule
Our schedule lists fixed fees for the U.S. actions Brazilian firms send most often, with our instruction checklist and a short guide to the most common USPTO refusals of filings from abroad.
- Direct USPTO applications
- Madrid provisional refusals
- TTAB oppositions and cancellations
- Section 8 and Section 71 declarations