In July 2015, the National Congress approved the participation of Brazil in The Hague Convention, and according to Decree No. 8.660, the Convention has entered into force on August 14, 2016.

The Hague Convention of October 5, 1961, Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, also known as the “Apostille Convention”. Following the usual procedural steps, the participation of Brazil was approved and is the 111th Contracting State in the Convention.

The Hague Convention abolishes the requirement of legalization for foreign public documents.  Before, foreign documents had to be authenticated at a Notary Public and legalized up to Brazilian Consulate, but now the process is simpler and less bureaucratic. Documents that had to be filed at the National IP Institute, notarized or legalized, should now be apostilled.

Brazilian applicants will also be able to take advantage of The Hague Convention, they will be allowed to file documents with other Hague Convention member state’s official bodies. Clearly, this will facilitate cross-border commercial and legal transactions in Brazil.  This is very important news for an international patent applicant in Brazil

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