Volunteer Spotlight: Paulo Parente Marques Mendes

Paulo Parente Marques Mendes, of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is one of the most recognized faces in the Brazilian trademark community. Mr. Parente Marques Mendes’s career began in 1987 when he, together with Gabriel DiBlasi, founded the firm DiBlasi Parente & Associados. It is now one of the of the five largest intellectual property (IP) firms in Brazil, employing 80 people in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

Mr. Parente Marques Mendes has been active with INTA for more than 20 years, and is currently Co-Chair of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee’s regional subcommittee for Latin America and the Caribbean. Last year, Mr. Parente Marques Mendes was also the Latin American representative involved with 2018 INTA President Tish Berard’s Task Force focused on the accessibility of IP protection and services for small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs. He also helped INTA’s Unreal Campaign, which educates teens about counterfeits, recruiting one of his surfing friends, Rico De Souza, a famous Brazilian surfer with his own brand of surf equipment and clothing (Rico Surf), to talk to the Brazilian media about how counterfeiting has harmed his business and staff.

More recently, on behalf of another IP association, Mr. Parente Marques Mendes spoke to the legislative body of the Brazilian federal government about the Madrid Protocol. He and his firm are also involved in various corporate social responsibility projects, recently creating audio recordings of all the Brazilian IP legislation for the benefit of the blind to access via the Web and providing pro bono support to the Children’s Cancer Institute of Brazil.

When not working or volunteering for INTA or the other professional associations for which he is an active member, Mr. Parente Marques Mendes regularly teaches Brazilian jiu-jitsu to local street children (he has his black belt!); he has taught martial arts as far afield as Australia. He is also a musician (even appearing on stage at the Association’s 2018 Leadership Meeting!), keen surfer, and soccer player.

His involvement with jiu-jitsu in particular has benefited his work, as the philosophy of the sport-to use technique to overcome a more powerful opponent-has made him adept at assessing the strength of the other side’s case, while knowing the weaknesses of his client’s case and what he can and cannot do to bring about the right solution for his client.

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