Operation Desvio de Rota Targets One of Brazil’s Largest Commercial Centers

Bhering Advogados recently participated in Operation Desvio de Rota, a large-scale enforcement action led by the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service (Receita Federal) in the Brás district, one of the largest wholesale and retail commercial hubs in São Paulo and Brazil.

The operation resulted in the temporary closure of Shopping 25 Brás and Shopping Stunt, commercial centers that collectively house approximately 2,000 stores. Scheduled to last fifteen days, the operation mobilized 95 Federal Revenue officers and aims to combat the sale of counterfeit goods and products unlawfully introduced into the Brazilian market.

Combating Counterfeit Goods and Illicit Trade in Brazil

According to the authorities, the value of the seized products may reach approximately USD 60 million. Inspected goods included perfumes, sportswear, footwear, caps, cosmetics, uniforms and other consumer products frequently targeted by counterfeit networks.

During inspections, authorities also identified merchandise concealed in hidden compartments, including false ceilings and specially adapted walls within commercial establishments.

Beyond Trademark Infringement

In addition to trademark infringement and customs-related violations, the Federal Revenue Service reported evidence suggesting potential money laundering activities, corruption schemes, labor violations and public health offenses, which are currently being investigated by the competent authorities.

Bhering Advogados’ Commitment to Brand Protection and Anti-Counterfeiting

Our Anti-Counterfeiting Department works closely with customs, law enforcement and regulatory authorities to strengthen measures against illicit trade, trademark infringement and unfair competition.

Through coordinated enforcement strategies, investigations, customs actions and anti-counterfeiting programs, we remain committed to protecting trademark rights, safeguarding consumers and supporting fair competition in the Brazilian marketplace.

Read more at (portuguese)

https://www.cnnbrasil.com.br/nacional/sudeste/sp/sp-operacao-contra-falsificacao-de-itens-da-copa-fecha-2-shoppings-no-bras/

https://g1.globo.com/sp/sao-paulo/noticia/2026/05/18/megaoperacao-da-receita-federal-fecha-dois-shoppings-no-bras-atras-de-produtos-falsificados-como-camisas-da-copa.ghtml

https://noticias.uol.com.br/cotidiano/ultimas-noticias/2026/05/18/receita-operacao-bras.ghtm

https://www.metropoles.com/sao-paulo/receita-2-shoppings-bras-operacao-copa

https://veja.abril.com.br/brasil/operacao-da-receita-federal-no-bras-fecha-quase-2-mil-lojas/

https://noticias.r7.com/jr-24h/boletim-jr-24h/video/receita-fecha-shoppings-no-bras-em-operacao-contra-produtos-falsificados-em-sp-18052026/

The Brazilian PTO has issued new regulations significantly expanding priority examination for trademark applications in Brazil, introducing broader eligibility criteria and procedural simplifications.

The new framework becomes effective on May 1, 2026, marking Phase II of the pilot project.

 

Trademark priority examination in Brazil: key overview

Brazil currently provides three main priority routes:

• Legal priority (elderly, disabled persons, serious illness cases);
• Strategic/public policy-based priority;
• Marks related to official government events.

A special regime also applies to the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027, with accelerated examination procedures.

 

New priority eligibility categories

As of May 2026, new categories include:

• Businesses requiring registration to operate in digital marketplaces;
• Startups (outside the Inova Simples framework);
• Applicants linked to Madrid Protocol filings;
• Applicants covered by international cooperation agreements (PPH/TPH);
• Entities dependent on trademark registration for public licensing;
• Traditional communities and agricultural collectives.

 

Procedural simplification and efficiency

The new regulations also introduce:

• Reduced documentary burden;
• Streamlined preliminary assessment for precedence claims;
• More flexible evidentiary standards.

 

Quota system and limits

Phase II establishes:

• 3,000 priority requests available in 2026;
• Maximum of 10 requests per applicant;
• Minimum quotas allocated per category.

 

Strategic implications for trademark owners

The expansion of priority examination creates significant opportunities to:

• Accelerate trademark protection in Brazil;
• Support time-sensitive commercial operations;
• Align local filings with global IP strategies;
• Mitigate enforcement and competitive risks.

In a fast-evolving legal and commercial environment, leveraging priority examination mechanisms becomes a critical component of trademark portfolio management.

On World Intellectual Property Day 2026, we delve into how intellectual property (IP) plays a crucial role in the sports industry, turning the game into a thriving ecosystem underpinned by legal protections.

The global sports industry operates within a complex architecture of IP rights that drive everything from high-performance technology development to the commercialization of content and brand assets on a global scale. In this context, IP is not merely a tool for protection but an essential element that shapes the sports sector, providing value, structure, and security.

Sports and Copyright

The economic exploitation of sports inevitably relies on copyright and related rights, especially in broadcasting and content production. Live games, replays, highlights, and derivative audiovisual works are key assets in this market, and their proper protection requires the allocation of exclusive rights.

This model enables the creation of high-value broadcasting agreements, often structured in complex ways and involving multiple stakeholders such as leagues, clubs, athletes, broadcasters, and digital platforms. As digitalization continues to grow, challenges such as piracy and unauthorized retransmissions have become increasingly significant.

In this landscape, strategic management of copyright and effective enforcement mechanisms are essential to maintain the sector’s economic integrity and ensure fair compensation for rights holders.

Sports and Trademarks

Sports have become one of the most sophisticated arenas for brand creation and exploitation. Clubs, athletes, competitions, and events all build identities that extend beyond the field of play, turning them into highly valuable assets.

Trademark protection ensures exclusivity over names, logos, and other distinctive signs, enabling complex operations involving licensing, sponsorships, and commercial exploitation. These assets are crucial in generating revenue and strengthening the connection with fans.

Moreover, large sporting events highlight the importance of legal strategies to protect against practices like ambush marketing, which can compromise the exclusivity of official sponsors and directly affect the economic returns from these partnerships.

Sports and Patents

Technological innovation is playing an increasingly central role in modern sports, reflecting a competitive environment where even small advantages can lead to significant outcomes.

Patents are vital for protecting innovative solutions, from new sports materials and equipment to advanced performance monitoring and analysis technologies. Investment in research and development becomes a strategic differentiator, allowing companies and sports organizations to capture value from their innovations.

Additionally, the advancement of artificial intelligence, data science, and engineering in sports emphasizes the importance of IP as a tool for protection and encouragement of innovation.

Sports and Industrial Designs

Beyond functionality, aesthetics play a crucial role in the sports industry. The design of uniforms, equipment, and licensed products is vital for market differentiation and brand identity.

Industrial design protection ensures exclusivity over these visual aspects, contributing to the enhancement of products and strengthening commercial strategies based on consumer experience and aesthetic appeal.

This protection is particularly relevant in a market where consumption is closely linked to the emotional identification of fans with teams, brands, and athletes.

Intellectual Property as the Foundation of Sports

The contemporary sports landscape reflects a clear logic: the strategic fragmentation of IP rights. Different intangible assets are protected and exploited autonomously, allowing for revenue maximization across multiple channels, including media, technology, consumption, and branding.

More than just protecting individual assets, IP organizes the very economic functioning of sports, defining how value is created, distributed, and captured. In an increasingly global, digital, and competitive environment, this legal framework not only sustains the sector but also drives its continuous evolution.

Our Anti-Counterfeiting team is dedicated to strengthening IP enforcement in Brazil. Recently, we collaborated with the 1st General Investigations Division (DIG) on a successful raid operation in Jaú, in the state of São Paulo.

The operation resulted in the seizure of thousands of counterfeit products, including backpacks, lunch boxes, pencil cases, toiletry bags, keychains, rugs, mouse pads, and cup holders.

Beyond infringing intellectual property rights, counterfeit goods mislead consumers and undermine trust in the marketplace. These products often fail to meet minimum quality and safety standards, creating additional risks for end users.

Our Anti-Counterfeiting and Piracy Department remains actively engaged in supporting law enforcement authorities in the fight against illicit trade, working to safeguard consumers and protect the rights of trademark owners.

Last week, the partner José Roberto de Almeida participated in the 5th Scientific Meeting of the ABPI Study Commissions, co-moderating the panel titled “Copyright and Artificial Intelligence.”

The panel featured contributions from experts Sónia Queiroz Vaz and Meaghan H. Kent.

During the session, the panel discussed the latest regulatory and jurisprudential developments in the European Union and the United States, with a focus on maintaining human authorship as a core element in copyright protection in the context of artificial intelligence. Legal uncertainties surrounding the use of data for training AI models were also thoroughly examined.

This participation highlights the firm’s active engagement with strategic, cutting-edge topics, staying closely attuned to the legal impacts of emerging technologies.

Bhering Advogados is pleased to announce its participation in the 5th Scientific Meeting of the Study Committees of the ABPI (Brazilian Intellectual Property Association), one of the leading forums for technical debate on intellectual property in Brazil.

As part of the official program, the lecture “Protection of Trade Secrets: The European Landscape and Perspectives for Brazil” will take place on April 17, bringing together internationally recognized experts to discuss the evolving framework of trade secret protection, a key asset in innovation-driven and technology-based markets.

The session will be moderated by Philippe Bhering, reinforcing the firm’s active role in high-level discussions involving trade secrets, confidential information, and strategic IP assets. The panel will address comparative legal approaches, enforcement challenges, and practical strategies for protecting business-sensitive information in cross-border contexts.

The discussion will feature distinguished international speakers, including Daniel Hoppe, partner at Bonabry (Hamburg), recognized for his expertise in trade secrets and unfair competition law, and Martina Eberle, Vice President of Global IP at BASF, with extensive experience in managing intellectual property portfolios at a global level.

This initiative reinforces Bhering Advogados’ positioning as a reference in intellectual property in Brazil, particularly in matters involving trade secrets, IP strategy, and cross-border protection of intangible assets. The event provides a valuable opportunity to exchange insights, monitor international developments, and anticipate regulatory and business impacts in the Brazilian market.

At Bhering Advogados, our efforts in fighting counterfeiting are central to ensuring the protection of our clients’ rights. Our Anti-Counterfeiting Department, in partnership with the State Department of Criminal Investigations (DEIC) and the 1st General Investigations Division (DIG), played a key role in a significant enforcement operation against counterfeit goods. The operation took place on March 18, 2026, in the central region of São Paulo, specifically in the Brás district, resulting in the seizure of approximately 50,000 counterfeit items bearing our clients’ trademarks.

The operation targeted a strategically located site, used as a warehouse for illicit products. Civil police officers, with a team of 16 agents and 5 vehicles, successfully dismantled a counterfeiting network that was affecting consumers and the legitimate market, safeguarding intellectual property rights and protecting our clients’ trademarks.

We remain committed to protecting intellectual property rights and combatting counterfeiting. Our team works tirelessly alongside law enforcement authorities to ensure that wrongdoers are held accountable and that consumers have access to genuine products, free from counterfeit goods.

Learn more about how we protect your trademarks.

Visit our website for more information on how we can help you protect your intellectual property from counterfeiting.

Partner Philippe Bhering was interviewed by Valor Econômico in a feature covering the growth of so-called “China Desks” in law firms in Brazil, driven by the increase in investments and trade relations with the Asian country.

The article highlights that the strengthening of China’s presence in Brazil has required not only specialized technical expertise, but also a deep understanding of cultural particularities and the local legal environment. In this context, the creation of dedicated teams to serve Chinese clients has emerged as a strategic response to this new market dynamic.

During the interview, Philippe Bhering noted that the firm had already been advising Chinese companies, particularly in the telecommunications and automotive sectors, and that the formalization of a dedicated practice reflects the growth of this demand. According to the partner, the initiative also aims to foster greater cultural alignment, including through language, while keeping pace with the rise in intellectual property matters, with a focus on the protection of intangible assets.

The full article can be read here (in Portuguese): https://valor.globo.com/legislacao/noticia/2026/03/26/crescimento-de-negocios-com-o-pais-multiplica-as-china-desks-dos-escritorios-de-advocacia.ghtml

The Brazilian intellectual property system has reached an important turning point. On March 3^rd, 2026, the 1^st IP Specialized Panel of the Federal Court of Appeals for the 2^nd Circuit (TRF-2) unanimously rejected the appeals filed by the Federal Administration and the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BPTO), upholding a ruling aimed at addressing the structural limitations that have long affected the BPTO.

The case originated from a Public Civil Action filed by the Brazilian Association of Intellectual Property (ABPI), which challenged the persistent financial constraints imposed on the BPTO despite its capacity to generate substantial revenue.

At the heart of the litigation was the chronic budgetary fragility of the BPTO. Although it generates significant revenue through fees, a substantial portion of these funds has historically been withheld by the Federal Administration to meet fiscal targets.

This practice has contributed to a structural deficit in personnel and infrastructure. For years, the BPTO has faced a shortage of examiners and outdated IT systems, which in turn produced significant delays in the examination of patent and trademark applications.

The First-Instance Decision

In April 2022, Judge Caroline Somesom Tauk, of the 31^st Federal Court of Rio de Janeiro, partially granted ABPI’s claims. The decision established a framework aimed at addressing the institutional deficiencies affecting the BPTO. The first-instance decision ordered the following:

• The BPTO must present, within 90 days, a detailed institutional diagnosis identifying inefficiencies based on technical and comparative benchmarks and defining the resources needed to improve operations. Within the same 90 days, the BPTO must also submit a restructuring plan for the 2022–2024 period, including the progressive measures to its activities, with a detailed implementation plan and budget forecast.
• The BPTO’s plan must specify the actions, timelines, and funding sources, and will be subject to judicial approval during the enforcement phase, upon the periodic submission of reports demonstrating the implementation of the adopted measures.
• The Federal Administration must allocate the budget necessary for the implementation of the restructuring plan, in accordance with the schedule to be approved at enforcement phase.

The Court partially rejected ABPI’s requeststo order the automatic transfer of the full amount of the BPTO’s revenues. The Judge emphasized that judicial intervention should extend only as far as necessary to remedy the identified deficiencies without interfering with administrative decision-making by the Executive and Legislative branches.

What is new? The Appellate Court’s Ruling

On appeal, Reporting Appellate Judge Simone Schreiber upheld the core reasoning of the first-instance decision.

The ruling issued by the TRF-2 emphasized that, although the Judiciary should not substitute itself for the public administrator, judicial intervention becomes legitimate when governmental omissions compromise the effectiveness of fundamental rights. In this case, the court recognized the connection between the proper functioning of the BPTO and the constitutional protection of industrial property under Article 5, XXIX of the Brazilian Constitution.

The decision also clarified that the BPTO’s financial autonomy should not be viewed as an institutional privilege, but rather as a necessary condition for the BPTO to fulfill its statutory mission.

Importantly, the ruling preserved a careful balance between the parties’ positions. The court rejected the Federal Administration’s argument that it retained full discretion over the BPTO’s budget, while also denying ABPI’s cross-appeal seeking the unrestricted transfer of all revenues generated by the BPTO. Instead, the court maintained the obligation to allocate funds in accordance with the concrete needs identified in the restructuring plan.

Implications for Brazil’s Innovation Ecosystem

While the Federal Court’s ruling may still be challenged through an appeal to the Superior Court of Justice, it represents a significant institutional step toward strengthening the Brazilian innovation system.

By ensuring that the BPTO has access to the resources required to modernize its operations, the ruling creates the conditions necessary for improving examination capacity, reducing application backlogs, and enhancing legal certainty in the protection of intellectual property rights.

For innovators, investors, and businesses operating in Brazil, the outcome signals a stronger and more reliable institutional framework for the protection of industrial property.

By Thiago Ruschi

On March 3, 2026, the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office – BPTO published Normative Ordinance No. 58, dated February 23, 2026, which establishes internal procedures for the implementation of the special protection regime for trademarks and industrial designs related to the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which will be held in Brazil. The special regime was introduced by Provisional Decree No. 1,335/2026.

The special regime will consist of the following exceptional procedures by the BPTO:

• a simplified procedure for the recordal, in the BPTO’s database, of the highly renowned and well-known status of trademark registrations owned by FIFA;
• fast-track examination and a simplified procedure for trademark applications related to the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, including different deadlines for the submission and examination of appeals; and
• fast-track examination of industrial design registrations related to the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Eligible applications must be (a) filed in the name of FIFA or other entities formally acting on its behalf (including subsidiaries, commercial partners, or contractors), and (b) identified by FIFA as being related to the competition, through lists submitted to the BPTO, in accordance with Article 9, sole paragraph, and Article 13, sole paragraph, of Provisional Decree No. 1,335/2026.

The recordal in the BPTO’s database of the high-renown and well-known status of FIFA-owned trademarks will be carried out through a simplified procedure, based on the lists filed by FIFA, and the entity will not be required to submit specific evidence demonstrating the high-renown or well-known status of its trademarks during the exceptional period of effectiveness of the Provisional Decree.

For tracking and prioritization purposes, eligible applications will receive the identifier “Regime Especial FIFA 2027” (“FIFA 2027 Special Regime”). The list of trademark registrations with high-renown or well-known status owned by FIFA will be published on the BPTO’s official website.

Once the recordals have been completed, the BPTO will forward to the Núcleo de Informação e Coordenação do Ponto BR – NIC.br (“Brazilian Network Information Center”) a list of the relevant trademarks, for the purpose of enabling the ex officio rejection of domain name registrations that reproduce or contain expressions identical or similar to FIFA’s trademarks.

In the event that a trademark application subject to the special regime is rejected, the following deadlines shall apply to the appeal procedure:

• the deadline for filing an appeal shall be 15 (fifteen) days from the publication of the rejection decision;
• the deadline for interested parties to file counterarguments to the appeal shall be 15 (fifteen) days from the confirmation notice of the appeal;
• the BPTO’s General Coordination of Appeals and Nullities shall issue an opinion on the appeal within 15 (fifteen) days from the end of the deadline for submitting counterarguments and shall immediately forward it to the BPTO’s Presidency; and
• the Presidency of the BPTO shall decide the appeal within 20 (twenty) days, counted from the end of the deadline for submission of counterarguments.

For the operational implementation of these procedures, two specific Work Groups have been established, one for Trademarks and one for Industrial Designs, composed of BPTO officials and acting under the technical coordination of the Directorate of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications (DIRMA).

The Ordinance entered into force on March 3, 2026, and the special regime and the fast-track examination procedure will remain in effect until December 31, 2027. Upon the expiration of this period:

• the maintenance of the special protections shall follow the general rules applicable to other high-renown and well-known trademarks; and
• all proceedings still pending will be subject to the ordinary examination procedures for trademarks and industrial designs, unless otherwise provided by law.

The grant of registrations may extend beyond that date, in accordance with the applicable legislation.

By Jéssica Lima