Collective marks aim to identify that a product or service comes from a collectivity, from members of a group.
As examples of collectivity we can mention association, cooperative, union, consortium, federation, confederation etc.
In addition, collective brands have some particularities:
- They can only be requested by a legal entity representing the collectivity;
- Only members of that collective can make use of the brand, as long as they follow the regulation of use;
- The co-ownership regime in collective trademark registrations is not allowed;
- It is not possible to transfer ownership of the collective mark.
The regulation of use is a document that must be presented in the application for registration of the collective mark. This document contains the rules to be followed by the members of the entity for the use of the brand, they are:
a) Description of the applicant legal entity, indicating its qualification, corporate purpose, address and individuals or legal entities authorized to represent it;
b) Conditions for the eventual withdrawal of the registration application or the partial or total waiver of the trademark registration;
c) Necessary requirements for affiliation to the collective entity and for individuals or legal entities, associated or linked to the applicant legal entity, to be authorized to use the trademark under examination;
d) Terms of use of the brand, including the form of presentation and other aspects related to the product or service to be marked;
e) Possible sanctions applicable in case of inappropriate use of the brand.
Complying with this regulation is very important, as if the community does not comply with it, it runs the risk of having its trademark registration terminated. This is because the Industrial Property Law establishes that, in addition to the hypotheses listed in article 142, collective trademark registrations may be terminated in the situations provided for in article 151, namely:
- The entity ceases to exist;
- The brand is used under conditions other than those provided for in the regulations for use.
Another peculiarity is that a collective trademark that has already been registered and the registration has been terminated for any reason, cannot be registered in the name of a third party, before expiry of the period of 5 (five) years, counted from the registration's extinction.
And what are the advantages of having a collective brand?
- Identification of the product or service as coming from your group;
- Exclusive use of the brand for the community;
- Division of expenses with registration and monitoring of the brand among members of the community;
- Division of expenses with the creation and dissemination of the brand among members of the community;
- It gives greater credibility to the collectivity and the business relationships it exercises;
- Stimulates, develops and disseminates local culture.
For more information please contact our office. Peduti Advogados
Lawyer author of the comment: Luciana Santos Fernandes
If you want to know more about this topic, contact the author or Dr. Cesar Peduti Filho.
If you want to learn more about this topic, contact the author or the managing partner, Dr. Cesar Peduti Filho.