Brazil’s National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) announced on 24 July that DIRMA will hold a public stakeholder meeting on 19 August 2026, with in-person and online participation. One agenda item is the presentation and discussion of revised registrability criteria for position marks, following the close of the related public consultation on 24 July. The direction disclosed by INPI is to assess the sign, its clearly defined placement and the relevant public’s perception of that combination, rather than treating the position in isolation. The final approach should still be checked against the meeting materials and any subsequent formal text.
Acquired distinctiveness is not a mechanism that begins only on 19 August: INPI has already completed consultation work and adjusted its trademark examination framework through measures adopted in 2025. Read together, the two developments point toward heavier reliance on market perception and evidence of use in Brazilian trademark examination. Applicants for non-traditional marks should start organising consistent depictions of the claimed position, duration and geographic scope of use, advertising expenditure, sales materials, surveys and media references. A coherent evidentiary record tied to the relevant goods or services may matter more than arguments based solely on visual originality.
