Who has never associated a specific sound with a particular company or brand? We all immediately associate Netflix’s characteristic “ta-dum” when opening its streaming platform or TV Globo’s “plim-plim” with the respective owners of these “brands.” This effect is not accidental. Sounds can function as carefully designed brand assets, serving the same purpose as a logo: to make consumers automatically associate a particular stimulus with a specific company.
The so-called sonic branding or audio branding has been increasingly adopted as part of sensory marketing, particularly in sectors such as applications and streaming platforms. Many companies are investing in sound identity as part of their brand strategy. However, in Brazil, unlike in the United States and the countries of the European Union, it is still not possible to register a sound mark before the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (INPI).[1]
Article 122 of the Brazilian Industrial Property Law (Law No. 9,279/1996) provides that only signs that are visually perceptible may be registered as trademarks. In other words, the law requires that a trademark be capable of being “seen,” which, according to the INPI, excludes sounds, scents, and flavors from traditional trademark protection.
Nevertheless, in recent years, the INPI has considerably expanded its understanding of what may constitute a registrable sign. Three-dimensional trademarks, such as the shape of packaging, for example, have been registrable in Brazil since 1997, while position marks, consisting of an element applied consistently in the same location on a product and associated with a color or shape, have been registrable since late 2024. The registration of slogans has also become accepted by the Office.
More recently, in June 2026, the INPI took a formal step toward recognizing sound marks as registrable in Brazil. The Working Group for the Review of the Industrial Property Law (GTPI) classified the amendment of Article 122 as a priority proposal, with the aim of modernizing the law and bringing the practice of sound registration in Brazil into line with international developments.[2]
A sound identity asset cannot yet be registered as a trademark in Brazil under the traditional system. However, companies operating in Brazil have alternative means of protection. Copyright law is one possible avenue for protecting sounds, as is filing an application for registration of the verbal element associated with the sound. This is particularly relevant because brand sounds are often accompanied by an onomatopoeia or written expression, which may be registered as a traditional word mark or composite mark.
Given the INPI’s priority proposal to amend Article 122, the registration of sound marks or sound identities may officially become part of the catalogue of registrable signs in Brazil in the coming years.
[1] Information verified in August 2026, based on Article 122 of Law No. 9,279/1996 (Industrial Property Law) and the INPI Trademark Manual (version updated in November 2025), which currently limits trademark registration to word, figurative, composite, three-dimensional, and position marks.
[2] INPI, “Proposals for Improving the Industrial Property Law” – Report of the Working Group for the Review of the Industrial Property Law (GTPI), published on June 19, 2026.
