The 13th Federal District Court of Rio de Janeiro, specialized in IP cases, has recently compelled the PTO to reanalyze 22 decisions denying trademark applications since it did not present the satisfactory grounds of such decisions.The PTO had dismissed the applications merely stating that they had to be rejected despite a coexistence agreement reached between the applicants and a third party. The PTO did not present any reasons concerning the apparent insufficiency of the agreement.Judge Nunes understood the PTO did not comply with its duty to satisfactorily inform the grounds of its decisions, established in the Federal Constitution. The court ordered the PTO to reanalyze the rejections and publish the explicit grounds of its decisions in the Official Gazette. After the publication, the applicant will have the opportunity for filing an administrative appeal against the PTO’s new decisions.This outcome also sets an important boundary against administrative abuses and illegal conducts.If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact us at prevail@lickslegal.com.