Rules and transparency
33.3% of franchisors hold a trademark registration in force for franchise services
Share of the 657 franchisors with a published CNPJ that hold a trademark registration in force with franchise services in class 35 of the Nice classification
See the full table (9 rows)
| Segment | Franchisors | With a trademark filing | With a registration in force | With a franchise registration in class 35 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Education | 37 | 81.1% | 75.7% | 45.9% |
| Food | 98 | 73.5% | 71.4% | 39.8% |
| Tourism and hospitality | 11 | 90.9% | 90.9% | 36.4% |
| Services and other businesses | 217 | 68.2% | 59.0% | 34.6% |
| Health, beauty and wellness | 119 | 66.4% | 58.8% | 32.8% |
| Fashion and accessories | 110 | 60.0% | 55.5% | 29.1% |
| Gyms and sports | 32 | 71.9% | 65.6% | 25.0% |
| Food, retail and distribution | 37 | 59.5% | 48.6% | 24.3% |
| All franchisors | 657 | 67.9% | 61.2% | 33.3% |
The trademark is the main asset licensed in a franchise contract, and registration at INPI (the national industrial property institute) is what grants the holder the sole right to use it in the country. INPI's open trademark data report the holder, the status and the classes of each filing, and the indicator crosses this database with the CNPJ (Brazilian company registry) that each network in the observatory's universe publishes as its franchisor.
Of the 657 franchisors with a published CNPJ, 446 hold at least one trademark filing, 67.9%, and 211 have no filing in the name of that CNPJ. Overall, 61.2% hold a registration in force and 46.0% hold a registration in force in class 35, that of commercial services. When the criterion is a registration in force whose specification cites franchise services, the share falls to 33.3%. Among those with a trademark, the median is 6 filings per franchisor, and the median year of first filing is 2015.
The share with a franchise registration ranges from 45.9% in education to 24.3% in food, retail and distribution. The absence of a registration in the name of the published CNPJ does not indicate a lack of trademark protection, since the trademark may be in the name of another group company, of the manufacturer that supplies the network or of the foreign parent company.
How we calculate
We started from the CNPJ that each network in the universe publishes as its franchisor on its own website and read, in INPI's open trademark data, the filings with a corporate holder whose CNPJ root matches that of this company, so that head office and branches count together and networks with the same holder share the same count. The status of each filing comes from the bibliographic data, and it counts as a registration in force when the status description indicates validity. Class 35 with franchise services is the filing whose specification in that class mentions franchising, in Portuguese or in English. Individual holders are not read. Because of the database license, the page publishes only counts.
What this figure does not show
- The count covers only trademarks in the name of the CNPJ that the network publishes. Trademarks registered by another group company, by the manufacturer, by the foreign parent company or by the partners are left out, and the share is a floor.
- Only networks that publish the franchisor's CNPJ on their website are included, and the published CNPJ may belong to another group company.
- The class 35 specification may describe franchising in other words, and the text criterion leaves those cases out.
- Recent applications not yet examined and older applications with the national classification have no Nice class published.
Frequently asked questions
Does a franchisor need to have its trademark registered at INPI?
No. Law 13.966 of 2019 requires the disclosure document (Circular de Oferta de Franquia) to report the status of the trademark at INPI (the national industrial property institute), with the number of the registration or of the application, and the STJ (Superior Court of Justice) held, in special appeal REsp 2.096.630, that registration is not a condition for the validity of the contract when the application has been filed and is stated in the disclosure document. In the tracked networks, 61.2% of the franchisors with a published CNPJ (Brazilian company registry) hold a trademark registration in force in the name of that CNPJ, and 33.3% hold a registration covering franchise services.
How many trademarks does a franchisor usually register?
Among franchisors with a trademark in the name of the published CNPJ (Brazilian company registry), the median is 6 trademark filings at INPI (the national industrial property institute).
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Maintained by Marktech, which serves franchise networks and franchises. The brands cited belong to their owners and are mentioned here only to identify the network the data refers to.