Marcão Britto and Thiago Castanho were allowed to keep referring to Charlie Brown Jr. in their professional musical performances after a São Paulo court rejected Alexandre Ferreira Lima Abrão’s request to stop them. That ruling did not grant them unrestricted ownership or commercial rights to the name. A separate 2025 trademark decision at Brazil’s INPI addressed registration of the mark and reportedly restored Peanuts Worldwide as its sole holder.
What the 2024 court ruling allowed
Abrão, Chorão’s son, sought to prevent guitarists Marcão Britto and Thiago Castanho from using the band name during shows. He argued that he controlled the brand and relied on a 2021 agreement that, in his account, required the musicians to obtain permission. The musicians argued that they helped found the band and that their performances were professional use of work they had helped create.
On September 16, 2024, São Paulo trial-court judge Guilherme de Paula Nascente Nunes rejected Abrão’s request. UOL reported that the judge reasoned that the musicians had contributed to the band’s success and allowed them to use the reference in their professional musical activity. The reported use was associated with their own names, such as “Marcão Britto Charlie Brown Jr.” and “Thiago Castanho CBJR.” UOL’s September 16, 2024 report quoted the judge saying it did not seem reasonable to prevent them from using something representing “the consolidation of joint work.”
The ruling concerned the request to bar the musicians from using the name in professional performances. It was not reported as a transfer of ownership, blanket authorization for merchandise or other commercial uses, or permission for every use of the name. At the time, Abrão could appeal, according to contemporaneous reporting.
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How the later INPI trademark decision differs
A separate proceeding concerned trademark registration, not whether the former members could refer to the band in performances. UOL reported that Brazil’s National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) decided on November 25, 2025, to annul the Charlie Brown mark interests held by Abrão and Graziela Gonçalves, restoring Peanuts Worldwide as the sole holder. UOL said the agency relied on Article 124 of Brazil’s Industrial Property Law, which bars registration of certain titles protected by copyright when they could cause confusion or association without the rights-holder’s consent. UOL reported the INPI decision on December 10, 2025.
These outcomes can coexist because they address different questions in different forums:
| Proceeding | Question addressed | Reported outcome and scope | Reported date |
|---|---|---|---|
| São Paulo court dispute | Could Abrão stop Marcão Britto and Thiago Castanho from using a Charlie Brown Jr. reference in professional performances? | Abrão’s request was rejected; performance identification associated with the musicians’ own names was reported as permitted. This was not an unrestricted trademark right. | Ruling reported September 16, 2024 |
| INPI trademark proceeding | Who held the registered mark interests at issue? | INPI reportedly annulled Abrão’s and Graziela Gonçalves’s interests and restored Peanuts Worldwide as sole holder. This did not itself establish unrestricted performance or promotional rights for the former members. | Decision made November 25, 2025; reported December 10, 2025 |
What remained unresolved in the latest reporting
UOL’s December 10, 2025 report said the musicians had favorable decisions in the first and second instances concerning performance under a similar name associated with their own names; it identified the more recent decision as being from April 2025. Their lawyers were seeking broader permission to use Charlie Brown Jr. in show promotion. That report does not establish that a broader right was granted.
The same report described opposing positions from counsel. The musicians’ lawyer, Jorge Roque, characterized the INPI decision as favorable to their position. Graziela’s lawyer, Maurício Cury, said the family would consider possible appeals or court measures and argued that the INPI decision did not give the former members rights. Those are statements by the lawyers, not findings by the court.
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The status of any appeal or action after UOL’s December 2025 reporting is not established here. The practical distinction remains: the reported court decisions addressed performance-related use, while the INPI decision addressed trademark registration.
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