A typical fruit from the Amazon had been patented in Japan since 2003; the company may appeal.

Açaí once again belongs to Brazil.  The typical fruit from Amazonia had been registered in Japan in 2003 as a trademark of the company, K.K. Eyela Corporation.  Early this month, the Genetic Heritage Department of the Ministry of the Environment informed that the "açaí" trademark had been cancelled by order of the Japan Patent Office, the agency responsible for trademarks in Japan.

The decision is not final - the company still has 30 days in which it can file an appeal.  If the company fails to counterclaim the trademark, the case is closed.  "This created a moral and economic problem for Brazil.  If a farmer wanted to export açaí to Japan, he would have to find another name or pay royalties to the trademark bearer, explains Eduardo Veléz, Director of Genetic Heritage of the Ministry of the Environment.  According to Veléz, this was being used "in a perverse manner" as a non-tariff trade barrier.

The Ministry of the Environment credits the victory to the efforts of the Brazilian Embassy in Japan, which has been working in conjunction with two other ministries, the Ministry of Foreign Relations and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, to alert trademark registrars around the world regarding the improper registration of national biodiversity assets.

Among the actions being taken, the government has produced a long list of 3,000 scientific names of plants from Brazilian biodiversity, along with their common names, which swells the list to 5,000 names, and has distributed it to trademark registrars throughout the world.  "This is a preventative measure that will strengthen our defense, if another case like this one appears", says Otávio Brandelli, head of the Intellectual Property Division of the Ministry of Foreign Relations.

Escapulario

Açaí is not the only such incident.  Several products that are typically Brazilian, such as cupuaçu, rapadura and even escapulário - a small pendent with images of saints, worn around the neck, have all been improperly registered as trademark outside the country.  Cupuaçu, for example, was registered as a trademark in three countries - Germany, the US and Japan.  After intense negotiations, Brazil was successful in all three countries and managed to cancel the trademarks in 2004.

According to Otávio Brandelli, from the Ministry of Foreign Relations, there are currently some 20 proceedings to re-appropriate names taken as trademarks, being negotiated by Itamaraty (Foreign Office).

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