In July 2024, the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) issued Resolution P-295/2024, amending the trademark opposition resolution procedure. This new regulation requires applicants who wish the Trademark Office to decide on pending ratified oppositions to pay a single official fee, regardless of the number of oppositions filed against their application. This fee must be paid within the unextendible deadline for filing a response to the ratification of the opposition, which remains unchanged. Failure to pay the fee will result in the rejection of the application.
The regulation also includes a temporary provision whereby the T.O. will request applicants who had not responded to ratified oppositions which are pending resolution to pay the official fee within the unextendible term of fifteen (15) working days of the notification; otherwise, the application will be rejected. Additionally, no new notifications of ratified oppositions will be issued until this process is completed.
It is important to note that, prior to this resolution, applicants who had received ratified oppositions against their trademark applications were not required to pay any fee nor to express their will for the Trademark Office to render a decision in the opposition process.
This measure aims to reduce the backlog of applications with ratified oppositions awaiting resolution and expedite the overall process.