Brazilian Video Game Regulations Establish a New Intellectual Property Registration System

As in the rest of the world, video game development and the video game market have experienced significant growth in Brazil. To encourage this activity, the Brazilian federal government has adopted a number of measures aimed at fostering the sector and providing greater legal certainty for investors.

In the field of intellectual property, particular attention should be drawn to the enactment, on May 3, 2024, of Law No. 14,852, which established the legal framework for the video game industry. Section 20 of the Law authorized the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (INPI) to register video games, without, however, clarifying the nature of the rights arising from such registration.

On October 14, 2026, the decree regulating Law No. 14,852 was signed. Article 20 of Decree No. 13,138 empowers the INPI to issue the regulations required to implement the new registration system. Article 21, in turn, clarifies that the legislation does not establish a new substantive intellectual property right of a sui generis nature in video games; rather, the traditional protection systems already recognized under Brazilian law will apply.

Accordingly, depending on the circumstances, creators will be protected either under the traditional copyright regime applicable to text, characters, images, music, and other elements, pursuant to the Copyright Law, or under the specific statutory regime governing the protection of the computer program underlying the video game.

In other words, the new registration system to be made available by the INPI will serve a comprehensive function and may replace, for video games, Brazil’s current and inefficient fragmented copyrights registrations system, under which each category of work must be registered with a different administrative authority. Instead of requiring the holder of rights in a video game to apply to five or six different authorities, a single registration with the INPI may secure protection for all the elements comprising the game.

We remain available to provide further information on the regulation of video games in Brazil and, in particular, to obtain the registrations required to protect them against imitation, as well as to pursue the appropriate legal remedies against acts of piracy. Please contact the professional who usually assists you at our firm or write to mail@kasznarleonardos.com.