Collective Trademark as Social Technology: Protecting Terena Handicrafts in the Urban Village Marçal de Souza, Campo Grande/MS

Objective: To analyze the collective trademark as a social technology to recognize and protect the collective ownership of knowledge among Terena craftswomen in the Marçal de Souza Urban Village (Campo Grande/MS), culminating in the creation of the Cacique Enir Terena Institute (ICET) and the preparation of an application to the Brazilian PTO (INPI). Theoretical Framework: Grounded in Brazil’s 1988 Constitution (art. 231), Industrial Property Law No. 9.279/1996, ILO Convention 169, and the Nagoya Protocol, and informed by WIPO guidance. It engages with legal pluralism, epistemic justice (Santos), and social technology (Dagnino) to frame protection of traditional knowledge. Method: Participatory action research with an ethnographic basis, including conversation circles, capacity-building workshops, and mapping of production practices; collaborative drafting of the statute and rules of use for the mark; technical partnership with IFMS (ProfNIT/NEABI). Results and Discussion: The process consolidated ICET as a representative entity, established quality standards and internal governance, and strengthened identity affirmation while deterring misappropriation; the INPI filing is underway. Discussion links these outcomes to legal requirements for collective marks and community self-regulation. Research Implications: Provides a replicable pathway for other traditional communities and inputs for cultural-heritage and IP policy; suggests future maturation toward a Geographical Indication for Terena ceramics. Originality/Value: A women-led, university–community collaboration that bridges traditional knowledge and innovative legal design; advances decolonizing approaches in IP by centering collective title and self-determination.