Cross-border IP Brazil–Portugal: entering the EU

For a Brazilian company expanding into Europe, cross-border IP between Brazil and Portugal can be handled largely in Portuguese: a national filing with Portugal’s INPI, an EU trade mark filed in Portuguese at the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), and international filings sent through INPI Brazil. The limits are worth knowing before the first filing: EUIPO requires a second language and a European representative for most steps, and the Madrid System does not yet work in Portuguese. This guide is for Brazilian founders, in-house teams and advisers planning their entry into the EU through Lisbon.

Key takeaways

A Portuguese national trade mark is filed in Portuguese, online, and Portugal’s justice portal puts the average registration time at about four months.
An EU trade mark can be filed in Portuguese and covers all 27 Member States, but the applicant must choose a second language among English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.
Companies without a domicile or establishment in the European Economic Area must be represented before EUIPO in every proceeding except the filing itself.
A Brazilian filing gives six months’ priority for the EU and Portugal, which matters given INPI Brazil’s timelines.
Portuguese is not a working language of the Madrid System; a proposal by Brazil, Portugal and other Portuguese-speaking members has been under discussion since 2024.

Three routes into Europe for a Brazilian brand

Route	Territory	Language	Points to note
Portuguese national mark (INPI Portugal)	Portugal	Portuguese	Online filing; about four months on average according to the official portal; cheaper online than on paper.
EU trade mark (EUIPO)	All 27 EU Member States, as one right	Can be filed in Portuguese; second language among the five EUIPO languages	Official fee EUR 850 online for one class, EUR 50 for the second and EUR 150 for each further class; representation needed after filing.
International registration (Madrid)	EU and/or Portugal, plus other members	English, French or Spanish	Filed through INPI Brazil as office of origin; depends on the Brazilian base mark for five years.

Sources: the Portuguese justice portal on registering a mark and the EU Trade Mark Regulation (EU) 2017/1001, Annex I for the fees.

The choice depends on where you will sell. A company starting with Portuguese distribution only may begin with the national mark; one planning to sell across the EU, online or through marketplaces, usually needs the EU trade mark from the start. Both Portugal and Spain are covered by an EU trade mark, which is often the simplest way to protect an Iberian launch.

Cross-border IP Brazil–Portugal: what can be done in Portuguese?

More than many Brazilian companies expect, but not everything. Under Article 146 of the EU Trade Mark Regulation:

An EU trade mark application may be filed in any official EU language, including Portuguese.
The applicant must indicate a second language, which must be one of the five languages of the Office: English, French, German, Italian or Spanish.
While the applicant is the only party, the proceedings run in the filing language.
Oppositions and applications for revocation or invalidity must be filed in one of the five languages of the Office, so a dispute may move away from Portuguese.

For international registrations, the Madrid System works in English, French and Spanish. In September 2024 Brazil, Cabo Verde, Mozambique, Portugal and São Tomé and Príncipe proposed introducing Portuguese as a language of the Madrid System. Until a change is adopted, international applications from Brazil are prepared in one of the existing languages.

Priority and timing: protect the European date while Brazil decides

INPI Brazil’s own Action Plan 2026 reports that unopposed trade mark applications took 18.3 months on average to reach a technical decision in 2025. A Brazilian company should not wait for its Brazilian registration before filing in Europe. Two tools help:

Paris priority. Under Article 34 of the EU Trade Mark Regulation, a first filing in Brazil gives six months to file an EU trade mark for the same mark and goods while keeping the Brazilian date. The same six-month rule applies to a Portuguese national filing under the Paris Convention.
Madrid based on an application. An international application can be based on a Brazilian application, not only on a registration. The trade-off is dependency: for five years, if the Brazilian base is refused or cancelled, the designations of the EU or Portugal fall with it, although they can be transformed into national or EU applications.

Representation: who can act for a Brazilian company

Article 119(2) of the EU Trade Mark Regulation requires natural or legal persons with no domicile, principal place of business or real and effective establishment in the European Economic Area to be represented before EUIPO in all proceedings other than filing an application. Under Article 120, the representative must be a legal practitioner qualified in an EEA state and entitled to act in trade mark matters, or a professional representative on the list kept by EUIPO. In practice, the representative should be appointed from the outset, because examination letters and oppositions can follow within a few months of filing.

Before INPI Portugal, applicants can act through a lawyer, solicitor or authorised representative, according to the official portal. A Brazilian company with a Portuguese subsidiary should decide early which entity will own the marks, since that choice affects representation, licences and tax.

Patents and designs through Portugal

Portugal participates in the Unified Patent Court system: the Court’s Administrative Committee set up a local division in Lisbon on 8 July 2022. A Brazilian applicant can reach Portugal through a European patent, filed directly or as the regional phase of a PCT application, since both Brazil and Portugal are in the PCT. For designs, Brazil has applied the Hague Agreement since 1 August 2023 and the EU since 1 January 2008, according to WIPO Lex, so an international design application from Brazil can designate the EU as a whole.

What this means for your business

Decide whether you need Portugal only, Iberia or the whole EU before choosing between a national and an EU trade mark.
File in Europe within six months of your Brazilian filing to keep the Brazilian priority date.
Choose the EUIPO second language with possible disputes in mind; Spanish is often a natural choice for a Brazilian team.
Appoint a European representative before filing and decide which group company will own the European rights.
If an EU trade mark is refused, remember that it can be converted into national applications, including in Portugal, keeping its filing date (Article 139).

Our cross-border IP strategy service between Brazil, Portugal and the EU can design the route and handle the European filings while coordinating with your Brazilian counsel.

Where Brazilian companies get European IP wrong

Waiting for the Brazilian registration. By the time INPI Brazil decides, the six-month priority window has long closed and a third party may have filed in Europe.
Filing only in Portugal and then selling across the EU, where the Portuguese mark gives no protection.
Treating Portuguese as the language of everything. Oppositions and cancellation actions at EUIPO run in one of the five Office languages.
Relying on a Madrid filing with a weak Brazilian base. If the base falls within five years, so do the European designations.
Registering the European marks in the name of the wrong entity, which complicates later licences, intra-group transfers and financing.

Frequently asked questions

Can a Brazilian company file an EU trade mark in Portuguese?

Yes. Article 146 of the EU Trade Mark Regulation allows filing in any official EU language, including Portuguese. The applicant must also indicate a second language among English, French, German, Italian and Spanish, and oppositions or cancellation actions are filed in one of those five languages.

Is a Portuguese trade mark enough to sell in the rest of the EU?

No. A national mark registered with INPI Portugal protects the brand in Portugal only. To cover Spain and the other Member States with one right, the usual tool is an EU trade mark, which can be filed directly at EUIPO or by designating the EU in an international registration.

Does a Brazilian company need a European representative?

Before EUIPO, yes, for everything except filing the application, if it has no domicile, principal place of business or real and effective establishment in the European Economic Area. The representative must be a qualified EEA legal practitioner or a professional representative on EUIPO’s list.

Can IP Global Guard handle our European filings from Brazil?

Yes. We design the Brazil–Portugal–EU route, prepare and coordinate EU trade mark and international filings, acting before EUIPO directly where our professionals are entitled and otherwise through qualified representatives, and coordinate correspondents before INPI Portugal, keeping one point of contact with your team in Brazil.

How IP Global Guard can help you enter the EU from Brazil

Entering Europe through Portugal makes sense linguistically and commercially; the IP plan should make sense too. IP Global Guard, the IP services line of META Channel Corporation Limited, works across more than 25 jurisdictions in Europe, Latin America and Africa with one strategy and one billing relationship; see our coverage in Europe and Latin America. Our EU and international trademark team can align your Brazilian and European portfolios from the first filing.

Tell us which marks you use in Brazil, the date of your Brazilian filings and the European markets you plan to enter. We will recommend the route and timing for each mark and coordinate the filings from a single point of contact. Contact us about your European expansion.

This article is general information, not legal advice, and does not replace advice on your specific situation.