The shifting of the burden of proof is an issue of great concern for suppliers when involved with litigation over product liability ...
Over the last decade, Latin American nations have put considerable effort into demonstrating their willingness to overcome the increasing amount of counterfeit activity in the region These efforts were intensified particularly after the US Trade Representative (USTR) released a warning, by inserting Argentina and Brazil in its “priority watch list” and by applying even greater restrictions to Paraguay, as subject to Section 306 of the 2003 Special 30
Pursuant to Article 74, 2nd paragraph, of the Brazilian labor code, companies with more than ten employees should control the working hours of its employees by means of manual, mechanic or electronic time registers. Electronic time registers (“ponto eletronico”) have been commonly used by employers to keep track of employees’ work hours ...
At this moment, according to the Brazilian Constitution, employees may not work more than 44 hours per week. Also, whenever employees work overtime, the hourly rates are increased by at least 50%. Yet, a Constitutional Amendment Bill is being discussed in Brazilian House of Representatives in order to change such provisions. Bill no ...
In Brazil the payment of profit sharing is regulated by Law # 10101/2000 (“Profit Sharing Law”), which sets the terms and conditions that the company’s plans have to meet in order to have such payments excluded from the basis of calculation of the mandatory labor benefits (vacation bonus, 13th salary, etc.) and the social security contributions ...
The escalation of fierce competition among companies for more cost effective products and services has raised discussions about Social Dumping, a curious combination of a traditional pure economic concept with labour and employment regulation ...
Abstract:Following the provisions of the TRIPS agreement, the Brazilian Industrial Property Law affords special protection to famous (highly renowned) trademarks in all fields of activity ...
The Brazilian industry appears to be fully recovered from the world crisis of 2008, at least as regards Intellectual Property aspects. According to a recent official announcement made by the Brazilian Trademark Office, the number of trademark filings in Brazil raised considerably in 2010, from an estimate 111.724 applications in 2009 to a total of 129.620, which corresponds to a 16% growth ...
It seems to have avoided the worst effects of the 2009 financial crisis that shook much of the developed world, as domestic demand, government stimulus and rising commodity prices helped pull the economy out of recession faster than most countries. Indeed, the good economic momentum that catapulted Brazil forward over the past 10 years has helped 30% of the population to rise out of poverty and become consumers of products and services ...
“A patent, trademark, or design registrationcan only be declared void by Federal courts”. Under this statement, theSuperior Court of Justice of Brazil has reaffirmed unanimously that defendantscannot argue unenforceability of a trademark registration as a defense argumentin an infringement lawsuit ...
Rrecently more than US$ 44 billion was invested in advertising campaigns in Brazil, a period during which CONAR, the Brazilian Advertising Self Regulation Council, rendered approximately 380 decisions, restricting, in some way, 221 advertising campaigns (2010). In 2011, this increased to almost US$ 52 billion, but the number of decisions issued by CONAR dropped to 325, limiting 215 commercials, mostly those broadcasted on television ...
On January 24, 2011 the Attorney General of the Federal Republic of Brazil signed a document restricting the powers of ANVISA (Brazil’s regulatorybody) in the examination of pharmaceutical applications, giving the rights to the Brazilian PTO to do so without any interference of ANVISA. The dispute between ANVISA and the Brazilian PTO in the examination of pharmaceutical applications had apparently been solved ...
Mobilizing the Money: A New Investment Program President Dilma Rousseff has launched an ambitious investment program in infrastructure, transport, logistics, and energy that will cost US$ 235 billion. The president and the entire government have been mobilized in the search for these investments, from domestic, foreign, public, and private sources ...
The passion Brazilians have for football is nothing new. As children, we learn the game and argue over the rules, which are often anything but black and white and, on occasion, are difficult to apply. That’s true even for referees, who, well into the 21st century, are still barred from employing the full array of technologies available to make their work easier. In contrast to other sports, the rules governing football evolve very slowly ...
The Central Bank of Brazil initiated a public hearing on 6 February to facilitate foreign investment. The Internet-delivered hearing will end on 7 April. The idea is to include under a single normative act the scattered provisions relating to fixed and variable income investment, as well as to portfolio investment. The measure is one of initiatives taken by the Central Bank within its Otimiza-BC program of cost reduction ...
NEW CVM DECISION SIMPLIFIES TRANSACTIONS INVOLVING PRIVATE INVESTMENT IN PUBLIC EQUITY (PIPEs) At a meeting held on January 7, 2014, the majority of the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (“CVM”) Board (Colegiado) accepted the appeal lodged by João Fortes Engenharia S.A., within the context of CVM Proceeding No ...
With international marketers readying for the upcoming FIFA World Cup, the Global Advertising Lawyers Alliance (GALA) has released Ambush Marketing: A Global Legal Perspective, which summarizes laws and other rules governing ambush marketing in 52 countries around the world ...
After two years of heated debate fuelled by a diplomatic scandal with the US, Brazil has enacted a groundbreaking bill of internet rights which will protect consumers and give added certainty to businesses. The government initially sought to stem the controversy related to the US government spying on Brazilian internet by proposing rules which would require all companies with operations in Brazil to keep their data stored within the country by setting up local servers ...
On August 29, 2014, Normative Resolution N. 112 was published, amending Article 4 of Normative Resolution N. 98 of November 14, 2012. Normative Resolution 112/2014 provides that the temporary visa item V can be granted to foreign nationals who will enter Brazil to work exclusively in the preparation, organization, planning and execution of the 2016 Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games and who do not have a Brazilian sponsoring company or any employment relationship with a Brazilian company ...
The Brazilian Securities Exchange Commission (“CVM”) has made public its Board of Directors’ decision issued on August 12, 2014, with respect to CVM Proceeding No. 2014/6342 (“Proceeding”). The Proceeding was initiated by SPE STX 25 Desenvolvimento Imobiliário S.A. (“STX”) concerning the development of the “Rio Business Soft Inn”,because STX intended to sell 151 hotel units (“condo hotel units”) during the construction period, at an average price of R$400,000.00 in accordance with Law No. 4 ...
Environmental laws should not be understood as a limit to economic growth and development but as a crucial part of economy: the wise use of natural resources means greater benefit from raw materials and lower costs for inputs. At the same time, the quality of life for Brazilian citizens should be enhanced by an effective program of environmental sustainability ...
At first glance, "net neutrality" may seem a natural principle for the internet environment. This expression, however, gives rise to sometimes divergent interests and some concerns. As a general concept, net neutrality means an open Internet, through which consumers would be able to make their own choices about the content they wish to access and share, as well as the services and applications they want to use ...
As in most countries, Brazil has strict regulations on sensitive advertising, especially as regards to alcohol, tobacco and other controlled substances. In Brazil, advertising is regulated by the Federal Constitution, which main directive is the freedom of speech. However, the Constitution also predicts that regulations referring to products that offer health and environmental risks will be provided by specific laws (section 220) and follow some restrictions ...
The venture capital industry has one goal: making startups incredibly lucrative and, thus, maximizing returns to venture capital investors. For the venture capital investor these outstanding returns are generally materialized 5 or 6 years after the Series A investment round, when the investor makes an exit and the startup either performs an initial public offering of its shares (IPO) or is sold to a strategic acquirer or a private equity fund ...
It is not unusual for companies to choose famous and prestigious events, such as entertainment awards and sporting championships, as platforms to promote their products and services. The Olympic Games are no different. As the world´s most important sporting event, drawing the attention from individuals all over the world for more than two weeks, the Olympic Games are the perfect scenario for marketing actions ...