Adhesion To Madrid Protocol?

Brazil is still evaluating its adhesion to the Protocol. The greatest controversy appears to be the issue of granting according to time limits in favor of foreign solicitors of trademarks, meaning that if the INPI (National Institute of Industrial Property) does not decide the process in 18 months, the request for registration will be automatically deferred and the trademark granted. However, the INPI takes a longer time than 18 months, the average granting time in Brazil being 5 years. It is thus feared that the INPI would not be able to handle the incoming workload.