According to article 7, paragraphs 1 and 4, of the Portuguese Industrial Property Code, "the proof of industrial property rights is made through its grant documents" and "certificates with similar content may be provided to the owners of the rights ". Therefore, in order to (judicially) prove the existence and possession of a certain IPR, it was necessary to obtain one of said documents, for which taxes (between 15.21€ to 50.70€ were due).

At a first glance and despite the several disclaimers on the new certificates, it is my personal opinion that this documents (similarly to what happens with the OHIM's certified copies of registration certificates) are included in the above referred to provisions and, consequently, trade mark owners will cease to have to pay taxes for obtaining documents to prove their rights. If a formal announcement on the matter or we have knowledge of a judicial decision that accepts the new certificates, we will return to this subject.