The Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BPTO) published, in the Industrial Property Gazette No. 2,884, dated April 14, 2026, Ordinances No. 66 and 67, both dated April 10, 2026, which govern the fast track (expedite) examination of trademark applications and will enter into force as of May 1, 2026.

Currently, trademark applications have taken approximately 14 to 20 months to be decided by the BPTO. This timeframe is detrimental to applicants’ interests, as only upon the grant of the registration by the BPTO do applicants obtain ownership of the trademark and are able to fully exercise their rights over it.

In order to reduce this timeframe, the BPTO has been adopting several measures, such as, since 2022, the implementation of expedite examination in specific situations, related to the applicant’s condition (such as individuals over 60 years old, or those suffering from a serious illness or disability, or legal entities classified as “Inova Simples”) or to disputes involving the trademark (such as cases involving claims of prior use or ongoing litigation).

Expedite examination has proven to be an effective measure to significantly reduce the processing time of a trademark application. On average, the BPTO currently takes around 34 days to decide on a request for expedite examination.

According to Ordinance No. 66/2026, the BPTO has expanded the grounds for requesting expedite examination, including, among others, the following:

• Claim of prior use rights, raised by the applicant or by an interested third party in opposition proceedings;
• Trademark subject to lawsuit proceedings;
• Grant of the trademark registration as a condition for operating on a virtual platform;
• Grant of the trademark registration as a condition for obtaining public funding;
• Grant of the trademark registration as a condition for obtaining a permit, authorization or concession from public authorities;
• Trademark related to a product or service that is the subject of a patent application under expedite examination before the BPTO;
• Applicant classified as a start-up, as defined by law;
• Trademark subject to international certification via Madrid Protocol.

According to Ordinance No. 67/2026, a total of 3,000 (three thousand) expedite examination requests will be made available throughout 2026, limited to 1,500 (one thousand five hundred) per four-month period (from May 1 to August 31, 2026, and from September 1 to December 31, 2026), and to 10 requests per applicant.