Portugal's intellectual property register – maintained by the Instituto Nacional da Propriedade Industrial (INPI) – is a public, searchable record of registered trademarks, patents, utility models, industrial designs, and topographies of semiconductor products. The register confirms ownership, filing dates, legal status, and any recorded assignments or licences. What it does not disclose is equally important: unregistered rights, pending EUIPO or PCT applications that have not yet entered national phase. Beneficial ownership layers sitting behind corporate registrants, encumbrances not formally recorded. Additionally, the chain of title going back further than the most recent transfer. For a supply-side transaction – licensing in a brand, acquiring a technology asset, or onboarding a supplier with IP dependencies – the INPI register is a necessary but never sufficient starting point. Parallel checks against corporate, insolvency, court, land, and financial registers are required to close the verification gap.
What the INPI register actually contains
The INPI's public database covers four main right types for Portugal's national jurisdiction:
- Trademarks (marcas): word marks, figurative marks, combined marks, three-dimensional marks, sound marks, and certification marks. Each entry shows the applicant/owner name, application date, registration date, classes under the Nice Classification, current status (pending, registered, opposed, expired, renewed), and any limitation by territory or goods and services.
- Patents and utility models: national filings plus national phases of PCT applications. The register shows priority claims, inventors, assignees, renewal-fee status, and any recorded licence or pledge. Patent term extensions for pharmaceutical products are listed separately under supplementary protection certificates.
- Industrial designs (desenhos e modelos industriais): appearance-based rights. The register shows the Locarno class, the holder, and validity periods. Community design rights via the EUIPO are not reflected in the national register.
- Topographies of semiconductor products: a narrow category, seldom encountered in standard supply transactions.
The database is searchable by owner name, registration number, and keyword. Free basic searches are available through the INPI's online search portal. Certified extracts – which are the documents with legal weight in proceedings or notarial acts – must be ordered and carry a fee set by INPI's schedule of fees (portaria de taxas). the exact amount should be confirmed at the time of request. As the schedule is updated periodically.
What the register does not show – the supply-risk gaps
For any party relying on a supplier's IP position or considering acquiring IP-bearing assets, the following structural gaps matter:
Unregistered rights. Portugal recognises unregistered trademarks under the Código da Propriedade Industrial to the extent they are well-known within the meaning of Article 6bis of the Paris Convention. Copyright and neighbouring rights are not registered anywhere – they arise automatically on creation. Trade secrets are protected under Decree-Law 110/2018 implementing the EU Trade Secrets Directive, but there is no register of trade secrets. A supplier's most commercially valuable IP may simply not appear in any register.
EUIPO and WIPO coverage gaps. EU trademarks and Community designs registered at the EUIPO are valid throughout Portugal without appearing in the INPI register. Searching INPI alone will miss these entirely. Similarly, PCT international applications that are still in the international phase will not yet appear as national or European patents. A freedom-to-operate analysis must cover EUIPO databases and the European Patent Office (EPO) register in parallel.
Beneficial ownership behind registered holders. The INPI register shows the legal titleholder. If a trademark is registered in the name of a holding company, a dormant vehicle, or an individual, the register gives no indication of who ultimately controls that entity. This is a standard corporate structuring technique. Piercing to the beneficial owner requires cross-referencing the Registo Comercial (companies register) and, where relevant, the Registo Central do Beneficiário Efetivo (RCBE) – Portugal's ultimate beneficial ownership register, maintained by the IRN.
Encumbrances not formally recorded. IP rights can be pledged under Portuguese law. However, pledges on IP are only effective against third parties if recorded at INPI. In practice, informal arrangements, security agreements under foreign law, or side letters may create encumbrances that are never lodged. A financier or acquirer relying solely on the INPI extract for a clean-title representation takes the risk that unrecorded security exists.
Licences and sub-licences. Exclusive and non-exclusive licences can be recorded at INPI, but recording is voluntary – it is not a condition for the licence's validity between the parties. Unrecorded licences may therefore exist and survive an ownership transfer, depending on the applicable contractual terms and the knowledge of the acquirer. This is a standard chain-of-title problem in IP M&A.
Domain names and online identifiers. The .pt country-code domain is administered by DNS.pt. There is no formal link between domain registrations and INPI trademark records. A supplier may hold a trademark but have lost the corresponding domain, or vice versa – a practical supply risk for brand-dependent commercial relationships.
Corporate register: checking who actually owns the IP
The Registo Comercial – the Portuguese companies register maintained by the IRN – is the first cross-check against an INPI owner record. The certidão permanente (permanent certificate) discloses current articles of association, share capital, directors, supervisory board members, and registered encumbrances on the company's assets. Viewing a certificate by its access code is free; ordering a new certificate carries a fee. The certificate does not itemise specific IP assets. However, it confirms whether the registered IP holder is a live entity, its legal form, registered address, NIF/NIPC. Additionally. The names of persons authorised to represent it. information essential for verifying that the person purporting to assign or licence the right has authority to do so.
Where the IP holder is a company with a complex group structure, the RCBE filing should also be retrieved. Portugal's beneficial ownership register is publicly accessible for entities with a legitimate interest (professional users, journalists, supervisory bodies) and records the natural persons who ultimately own or control legal entities registered in Portugal. A supplier claiming to own clean IP registered under a shell holding company may present a different picture once the RCBE record is examined.
Insolvency register: whether the IP is in a distressed estate
IP rights held by an insolvent company – or a company subject to restructuring – are subject to the administrator's powers under the Código da Insolvência e da Recuperação de Empresas (CIRE). An IP asset can be sold, abandoned, or used as leverage in a recovery plan without the licensee or supply counterparty being notified directly, unless specific contractual protections are in place.
The Citius platform – the Ministry of Justice's electronic case management system – is the primary source for insolvency status in Portugal. It is free to access and searchable by NIF or NIPC. The system covers insolvência (formal insolvency), PER (Processo Especial de Revitalização), PEAP (Processo Especial para Acordo de Pagamento), and PEVE (Processo Especial de Viabilização de Empresas). A critical operational point: the default search window on Citius is the last 30 days. Users who do not manually change the filter to "Todos" (all) will receive a false negative result – this is a well-documented error by foreign practitioners relying on automated searches. Any compliance-level check must specify the full search period.
The Lista Pública de Execuções – the public enforcement list – is a separate register, also free, that shows entities against whom enforcement proceedings are pending. An IP-holding supplier appearing on this list may have its assets (including registered IP) subject to judicial attachment. Citius and the Lista Pública de Execuções must be queried independently; neither replaces the other.
Court records: active litigation affecting IP validity
IP rights in Portugal can be contested through opposition proceedings at INPI or through annulment and infringement actions before the Tribunal da Propriedade Intelectual (TPI), the specialist IP court sitting in Lisbon. The Citius portal publishes court notices, including case distribution information and judicial notices, free of charge. It shows enforcement sales (venda judicial) and injunctions (providências cautelares) where the notice has been published.
However, Citius does not provide full access to case files. A pending annulment action against a trademark held by a supplier will appear as a case reference, but the pleadings, evidence, and current procedural stage are only accessible to the parties and their counsel. If INPI's own opposition database shows a contested registration, the underlying opposition proceedings must be examined directly. Practitioners should check both the INPI opposition status on the IP record and Citius simultaneously.
Land register: IP collateral and real property connections
In most standard IP supply-risk reviews, the land register (Registo Predial, accessed via the predialonline service of the IRN) is not the primary target. However, it becomes relevant in two specific scenarios.
First, where IP rights are bundled with real property in a single transaction. for example. A production facility sold together with the proprietary manufacturing processes and the brand. the Registo Predial must be queried to verify whether the real property component carries mortgages, easements. Alternatively, other encumbrances that could affect the bundle. The certidão permanente predial costs €15 when ordered online (€20 at the conservatória in person), provides six months of access via an access code, and can be paid by card or Multibanco. A digital signature is not required to order the certificate. However. A Portuguese NIF or NIPC is required to complete the transaction. a foreign entity or individual without a Portuguese tax number will need to appoint a local representative or use a service provider.
Second, some manufacturing or technology supply arrangements are structured with IP rights secured against real estate (e.g., a real estate mortgage paired with an IP pledge as cross-collateral). In such cases the Registo Predial annotation may cross-reference the IP security, and the land certificate provides a secondary confirmation of the encumbrance structure.
Financial statements: testing whether IP is actually on the balance sheet
Registered IP does not automatically appear as an asset on a company's balance sheet – treatment depends on whether the right was internally developed (where capitalisation under IFRS and Portuguese GAAP has restrictions) or acquired. Where a supplier represents that its IP portfolio has significant value, verifying the filed accounts provides a factual check.
Portuguese companies file annual accounts (IES – Informação Empresarial Simplificada) with the Tax and Customs Authority, and the deposited accounts are available through the IRN's system. A certidão de contas anuais can be ordered online; a paper certificate costs €55, while the electronic version is less expensive (the exact fee should be confirmed at the time of ordering). The IRN's official FAQ confirms that account information can be provided in English. The accounts show intangible assets by category, amortisation charges, and impairment. A supplier claiming to own high-value IP that does not appear in the intangibles line of its accounts warrants an explanation. it may indicate the right is held at group level. Was internally developed and expensed rather than capitalised. Alternatively, was transferred out of the entity.
The chain of title problem in Portuguese IP
Portugal's INPI register records assignments on application. However, the register is not a guarantee of good title in the way that, for example. The Registo Predial operates for real property (where the principle of fé pública registral applies to protect bona fide third-party acquirers). For IP rights, Portuguese law does not provide the same level of third-party protection through registration. A recorded assignment may have been executed under a contested or defective underlying agreement, under duress, or by a person without authority. The register records the fact of filing, not the validity of the transaction.
This means that a supply transaction where the IP component is material. a licensing deal, a technology transfer. Alternatively. An acquisition with significant brand value. requires a formal title opinion that traces the chain from the original inventor or creator through each recorded assignment to the current registrant. Where any link in that chain involved a corporate restructuring, merger. Alternatively, cross-border transfer, the supporting corporate documents (merger deeds. Contribution agreements, deed of assignment with notarial certification) should be reviewed, not merely the INPI extract.
Practical sequence for a supply-risk IP check in Portugal
Based on the structure of Portugal's public registries, a systematic supply-risk review of a counterparty's IP position should proceed in the following order:
Step 1 – INPI database search. Identify all registered rights (trademarks, patents, designs) held in the counterparty's name or any name it has traded under. Note registration dates, renewal status, and any recorded licences or pledges. Flag registrations that are expired, opposed, or in cancellation proceedings.
Step 2 – EUIPO and EPO cross-check. Run parallel searches for EU trademarks, Community designs, and European patent applications/grants. EUIPO's eSearch and the EPO's Espacenet are both publicly searchable without login. This step cannot be skipped if the commercial relationship has any EU-wide dimension.
Step 3 – Companies register (Registo Comercial). Retrieve the current certidão permanente for the IP holder. Confirm the entity is live, identify directors with signing authority, and check for any corporate encumbrances on record. Cross-reference the RCBE if beneficial ownership is uncertain.
Step 4 – Insolvency and enforcement checks (Citius, Lista Pública de Execuções). Search Citius using the NIF/NIPC with the "Todos" time filter. Search the Lista Pública de Execuções separately. Confirm there are no pending insolvency proceedings, restructuring plans, or enforcement sales that could affect the IP assets.
Step 5 – Court records (Citius, TPI). Check for active litigation touching the IP rights – opposition proceedings at INPI and annulment or infringement actions at the TPI. Where proceedings are identified, assess the stage and likely timeline.
Step 6 – Financial accounts review. Order the certidão de contas anuais for the last two or three available years. Verify that IP is reflected as an asset consistent with the representations made. Flag discrepancies between the claimed portfolio and the balance-sheet treatment.
Step 7 – Land register (if applicable). Order the certidão permanente predial for any real property involved in the transaction. Confirm whether the property carries encumbrances that interact with the IP bundle.
Step 8 – Title opinion and contractual protections. Based on the above, prepare a title chain analysis and advise on appropriate representations, warranties, and indemnities in the supply or licensing agreement. Where unregistered rights (copyright, trade secrets) are material, separate contractual protections must be drafted, as no register can verify or protect these.
Common errors and what they cost
Relying on an INPI extract alone. The extract confirms registration status at a point in time. It does not address unrecorded licences, EUIPO rights, beneficial ownership, insolvency status, or pending litigation. Parties who close licensing deals based solely on an INPI printout have later discovered that the supplier's "owned" trademark was subject to an unrecorded exclusive licence in favour of a third party. a licence that survived the assignment.
Ignoring the Citius time-filter default. A search showing "no results" on Citius with a 30-day filter is not a clean bill of health. This error is disproportionately common among international practitioners unfamiliar with the platform. The fix takes ten seconds but the consequence of missing an insolvency filing can be severe – particularly in Portuguese law, where the administrator's powers to disclaim or terminate executory contracts are broad.
Forgetting the EUIPO dimension. EU trademarks cover Portugal automatically. A counterparty's most valuable brand mark may be registered at the EUIPO under a different entity name within the same group. Making the INPI search appear to show no trademark. while in practice the supplier has a strong registered position. Conversely, a conflicting EUIPO registration held by a third party may render the supply arrangement commercially risky even if the INPI record is clean.
Treating copyright-dependent supply chains as IP-registered. Software, design content, literary works, and databases are protected by copyright from creation. Where a supply arrangement is fundamentally dependent on software (e.g., a SaaS supply chain, an embedded firmware arrangement, a content licensing deal), the INPI register is essentially irrelevant. The relevant due diligence involves authorship documentation, work-for-hire and assignment agreements, open-source licence compliance, and data protection considerations – none of which appears in any Portuguese public register.
When to seek legal advice before signing
A self-directed registry search is a useful first screen but is not a substitute for a formal IP due diligence opinion in any of the following situations: the transaction value attributable to IP exceeds a material threshold. the IP includes patents subject to validity challenges. the counterparty has recently undergone a restructuring or change of control. the supply arrangement is exclusive or long-term. the IP has cross-border dimensions involving EUIPO. EPO. Alternatively, non-EU jurisdictions. or the right type involved is primarily copyright, trade secret. Alternatively, know-how (none of which is publicly registered).
In these situations, the registry search informs the legal analysis but does not replace it. The Ferraz & Whitmore Intellectual Property practice handles title chain opinions, IP due diligence for M&A and supply transactions. Opposition and cancellation proceedings before INPI and the TPI. Additionally, the structuring of licensing and technology transfer agreements under Portuguese law. For complex cross-border IP positions, the practice works in coordination with Corporate Disputes and Data Protection teams where software and data assets are involved.
To discuss a specific supply-risk review or request a scoping conversation, contact the team at info@ferrazwhitmore.com or visit the contacts page.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Registry procedures, fees, and applicable law may change after the publication date. Readers should obtain specific legal advice from a qualified practitioner before taking any action based on this material. Ferraz & Whitmore accepts no liability for reliance on the general information contained herein.