The Brazilian Federal Supreme Court Recognizes General Repercussion and Will Examine the Limits on the Use of Religious Identity Signs as Trademarks

The Brazilian Federal Supreme Court Recognizes General Repercussion and Will Examine the Limits on the Use of Religious Identity Signs as Trademarks

On August 19, 2026, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court (STF) recognized general repercussion status for Topic 1,471, reported by Justice Cristiano Zanin, within Interlocutory Appeal in Extraordinary Appeal (ARE) No. 1,584,106. The controversy concerns the constitutional limits on the use, by religious organizations, of names, trademarks, symbols, liturgical elements and other identity signs associated with different religious entities, particularly when those elements are protected by trademark registration with the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (INPI).

The dispute originated from a lawsuit filed by two religious organizations against private individuals and a religious entity. The plaintiffs claimed exclusive ownership of, among other trademarks, “Mormon” and “Book of Mormon” and argued that the defendants were improperly using these signs, including through the distribution of a work titled “Sealed Book of Mormon.”

At first instance, the court ordered the defendants to refrain from using the trademark corresponding to the Church’s name. On appeal, however, the Court of Justice of the State of Rio de Janeiro (TJRJ) rejected exclusivity over the term “Mormon” and over distribution of the work, finding that the use was related to religious doctrine and did not, in that context, amount to trademark infringement. Against that decision, both a special appeal and an extraordinary appeal were filed, neither of which was admitted at the court of origin. Following the filing of the corresponding interlocutory appeals, the matter reached the STF through ARE 1,584,106.

The Court unanimously recognized the existence of general repercussion in the constitutional question raised and found the controversy to be constitutional in nature.

In his opinion on general repercussion, the reporting justice highlighted the apparent conflict between two fundamental rights. On one side, religious freedom, guaranteed by Article 5, item VI, of the Federal Constitution, which includes protection of religious liturgy. On the other, protection of industrial property, provided for in Article 5, item XXIX, which grants inventors and trademark holders protection over their creations and distinctive signs. For the justice, the constitutional question consists precisely of defining the reciprocal scope of these guarantees when a religious organization seeks to use a name, trademark or other identity element associated with a different religious entity.

In outlining this tension, the justice signaled that neither right appears to prevail automatically. The fact that an expression has religious content does not, on its own, remove the protection arising from a trademark registration duly granted by INPI. Likewise, registration does not mean that any and all use of the expression by third parties is necessarily prohibited, especially when the use occurs in the context of religious expression, doctrinal formation or confessional dissent. It will therefore be up to the STF to define the extent to which protection granted to the distinctive sign must be reconciled with religious freedom and the autonomy of religious organizations.

The reporting justice further noted that the controversy extends beyond the interests of the organizations involved in the case. In grounding the finding of general repercussion, he noted that religious pluralism is a marked feature of Brazilian society and observed that religious movements frequently undergo processes of internal reorganization, dissent, schism or the formation of new entities. In these contexts, names, symbols, doctrinal expressions and other identity elements can take on particular relevance.

In recognizing general repercussion, he proposed, as the question to be decided by the STF, the definition of the constitutional limits for religious organizations to use names, trademarks, symbols, external signs, liturgical elements and other identity signs associated with other religious entities, taking into account, jointly, religious freedom, the autonomy of religious organizations and the constitutional protection of intellectual property.

The topic can be accessed via the following link: Supremo Tribunal Federal
The opinion on general repercussion can be accessed via the following link: Supremo Tribunal Federal