Geographical Indications

The search for new items on the market, increased competition, and the need to distinguish products and services for their quality have made the origin of raw materials and persons an asset to be protected. As an example, how can we tell that a delicious coffee really comes from Brazil’s prized Cerrado Mineiro region? Or whether store-bought cheese was indeed produced in the country’s Canastra mountains?

In addressing these questions, Brazilian trademark legislation also protects Geographical Indications (GIs), which identify a product or service having unique characteristics, either based on its geographic origin or the place associated therewith.

Arising naturally from geography or from human factors, these characteristics give the product or service its recognition and reputation for quality.

Production area boundaries and restricted use limited to those producers from within the region maintain local standards and traditions, while blocking external producers or service providers from illegally utilizing the place name to describe their products or services. As a result, both the expectation and the value of quality remain protected.

Two types of GIs exist in Brazil: Appelation of Origin, which describes characteristics (including human and natural factors) that influence products or services from a certain geographic area, and Indication of Origin, which protects the geographic name made famous by a product or service.

In Brazil, the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) grants Geographical Indications.