Franchise contract certificates at INPI fell from 156 in 2023 to 23 in 2025, with 7 from January to September 2026

For decades, recording a franchise contract at INPI (the national industrial property institute) was a condition for remitting royalties abroad and for deducting those payments from income tax, which turned the institute into a partial registry of international franchising in Brazil. Since 1992, INPI has registered 1,467 franchise contract filings and issued 1,931 certificates, a body of records limited to the networks that had a reason to request registration.

In the recent series, the certificates issued fell from 156 in 2023 to 48 in 2024, 23 in 2025 and 7 through September 2026, a movement that follows two legal changes. Law 14.286, of 2021, removed recording as a condition for remitting payments abroad, and Law 14.596, of 2023, decoupled tax deductibility from registration, so that most networks no longer had a reason to approach the institute.

The composition of the records explains why they never served as a census of the sector. Franchisors based in the United States account for 69% of the filings, and a few brands concentrate a relevant share of the volume, with Burger King in 253 filings, Rio Doce in 118 and KFC in 114, which reflects networks that recorded contracts one by one, unit by unit, and not the relative size of those networks in the country.

How we calculate

We downloaded the technology contracts database from INPI's open data and filtered the franchise category, identified by the code FRA in the contract nature field. We counted filings by year of filing, and certificates by year of issue, licensor country and normalized licensor name, so that spelling variations of the same company were added together. The period runs from 1992, the first year with records in the database, to September 2026, and reaches 1,467 filings and 1,931 certificates, a larger number because a single filing can generate several certificates through amendments and extensions. We publish only aggregates, in accordance with INPI's license.

Calculated on September 7, 2026. Method version 1.0. Sample: 1,467 filings, 1,931 certificates. Corrected on November 8, 2026 (in Portuguese).

Frequently asked questions

Is it mandatory to register a franchise contract with INPI?

No. Registration was always optional and served to allow royalties to be remitted abroad and deducted for tax purposes. Law 14.286/2021 and Law 14.596/2023 removed those two requirements.

How many franchise contracts are registered with INPI?

There are 1,467 franchise contract filings since 1992 and 1,931 certificates issued, according to the open data of INPI (the national industrial property institute) consulted in September 2026.

Which brands have the most franchise contracts recorded at INPI?

Burger King appears with 253 filings, Rio Doce with 118 and KFC with 114, which reflects the practice of recording contract by contract and not the size of the network.

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