World Cup helps to hinder circulation of counterfeits

The newly created National Directorate for Combating Counterfeit Brands, to be administered by the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI), is one more weapon against piracy.

The idea is to hinder piracy before the World Cup in Brazil. The National Council to Combat Piracy and Crimes Against Intellectual Property, integrated collegiate advisory body of the Ministry of Justice, will be in charge of the supervision.

The measure is improvement, according to experts in intellectual property, such as solicitor George Lucena. He explains that the Directory was designed as a register, aside INPI’s trademark registration, which will be available for consultation by public servants in order to identify who are the true owners of trademarks or their representatives, to assist in repressing infractions.

“The interest in operating a more effective and open to private cooperation protection of intellectual property seems unstoppable for Brazil, given the growth and internationalization of the economy, major sporting events and commitments with organizing entities and their sponsors”, says George Lucena, a partner of Daniel Lawyers.

According to INPI, the schedule for structuring the Directory seeks for immediate implementation of a pilot project in at least one of the host states for the Cup. The signing of the instruments of cooperation between the Institute and the agencies whose servers will have access to the Directory is to happen this month. The 11 host states left shall start operating the Directory by June.

“Brazilian and foreign companies that hold registered trademarks in Iinpi should be ready for registration of information in the new Directory as soon as it is available”, says George Lucena.