Brazilian Federal Government promulgates the Budapest Treaty and the Mercosur Agreement on geographical indications

Brazilian Federal Government promulgates the Budapest Treaty and the Mercosur Agreement on geographical indications

On June 9, 2026, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed two decrees that incorporate into Brazilian law international treaties of significance for intellectual property. Decree No. 13,011 promulgates the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure, and Decree No. 13,009 promulgates the Agreement for the Mutual Protection of Geographical Indications Originating in the Territories of the Mercosur States Parties.

Decree No. 13,011/2026 completes the incorporation of the Budapest Treaty, signed on April 28, 1977 and amended in the following decades. The core of the Treaty lies in the international recognition of the deposit of microorganisms. Each contracting State recognizes a deposit made with an international depositary authority, including the fact and the date of that deposit. The instrument sets out the conditions such authorities must meet and, in its Regulations, establishes duties to preserve the material for a minimum period of thirty years, to periodically check its viability, to maintain confidentiality, and to furnish samples to industrial property offices, to the depositor, and to other legitimately authorized parties.

According to the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (INPI), accession does not immediately change the current procedure for depositing patents involving biological material, since, under its examination guidelines, only deposits made with international depositary authorities that, so far, exist abroad are recognized. The relevant change lies in the possibility for Brazil to seek, before the World Intellectual Property Organization, recognition of national institutions as international depositary authorities, able to receive, store, and supply biological material under the rules of the Treaty, such as Embrapa and Fiocruz. Once recognized, domestic depositors will no longer need to send samples abroad, a process that can be costly and logistically complex depending on the type of material.

Decree No. 13,009/2026, in turn, promulgates the Agreement for the Mutual Protection of Geographical Indications within Mercosur, signed in Bento Gonçalves on December 5, 2019. The Mercosur Agreement sets as its objective the mutual protection of geographical indications originating in the four States Parties, namely Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, and provides that the list of protected indications be approved by a Resolution of the Common Market Group. It further specifies that the Agreement does not extend to indications from countries outside Mercosur, nor does it require protection of indications that have ceased to be protected or have fallen into disuse in their country of origin, and it establishes that, once recognized, a protected term will not be regarded as generic by the States Parties.

The Agreement also prohibits the registration as a trademark of signs that reproduce recognized geographical indications, for similar goods or services, except for prior trademarks filed in good faith, which may continue to be used. It allows for the coexistence of homonymous indications, through means of differentiation that do not mislead consumers, and dispenses with the obligation to protect terms that are of common use in the territory where protection is sought. To manage the regime, it establishes the Committee on Geographical Indications, responsible for processing new indications, proposing updates to the list to the Common Market Group, and monitoring the harmonious application of national legislations.

Taken together, the two decrees strengthen Brazil’s position within the international intellectual property system across complementary fronts. Decree No. 13,011 concerns the protection of biologically based inventions and brings the country closer to an established standard of cooperation in patent matters. While Decree No. 13,009 recognizes and promotes the territorial and collective dimension of intellectual property within Mercosur, with the aim of strengthening regional trade and preventing unfair competition among the member countries of the economic bloc. In both cases, legal certainty and predictability are enhanced for rights holders, patent applicants, and producers.

The full text of Decree No. 13,011/2026 is available at Decree No. 13,011, of June 9, 2026.

The full text of Decree No. 13,009/2026 is available at Decree No. 13,009, of June 9, 2026.

Note: For quick release, this English version is provided by automated translation without human review.