Governor of Amazonas x Amazon: understand the controversy – 11/30/2023 – Market

The statement by the governor of Amazonas, Wilson Lima (PL), who questioned the use of the name of the technology giant Amazon gained the attention of social media this Thursday (30). In an interview with Rede Globo affiliate Rede Amazônia, Lima said that he will meet with big tech during COP 28 and asked: “Amazon uses the name Amazonas. How much do we earn for that?”

Later, the government of Amazonas stated, in a statement, that it is not “after royalties or Pix from Amazon”, but that it seeks to attract “partners interested in investing in local projects.”

Founder of the company and the second richest man in the world (according to Bloomberg ranking), Jeff Bezos named the largest global retailer with the English name of the biggest river on the planet. Its business also branches into secondary arms that run in all directions: retail, cinema, artificial intelligence, electronics production and internet service providers.

According to the Amazonas Environment Secretariat, the governor embarked on Wednesday afternoon for the United Arab Emirates and has agendas at the COP starting on Saturday (2). The government confirmed that Lima should meet with company representatives in Dubai, but was unable to specify the date.

Wanted by Sheet via email and WhatsApp, Amazon did not respond whether it would meet with the government in a meeting.

One of Amazon’s many areas of activity is providing services to governments. The company also invests in philanthropic activities in several places, including Brazil. The vice president of public policy at Amazon’s cloud services arm (AWS), Shannon Kellogg, has already signaled, in conversation with Sheetinterest in expanding investments in the country.

The lawyer specializing in intellectual property, Stephanie Consonni de Schryver, from TozziniFreire Advogados, says that royalties cannot be charged for the use of the “Amazon” brand.

“Although the word has its origins/inspiration in the Amazon River, the use of the term by Amazon is perfectly legal, since no one has the exclusive right to use the term “Amazonia”, as this is considered a term in common use.”

Data from INPI (National Institute of Intellectual Property), responsible for granting trademark registrations in Brazil, show that other companies hold registrations for the Amazon brand and expressions containing Amazon to identify other products or services distinct from those offered by the North American technology company . “Such trademark registrations were granted by INPI and coexist peacefully”, says Trench Rossi Watanabe partner Flávia Rebello.

WHERE DID THE NAME AMAZON COME FROM?

Amazon began as a platform specializing in the sale of books, called Cadabra, in reference to the magical words “abracadabra.” According to the company’s biographer, Brad Stone, author of the book “A Loja de Tudo”, the name change was motivated by an assessment by Bezos’ then lawyer. The word Cadabra, in addition to being obscure, could be confused with corpse.

Bezos began thinking about alternatives: in the mid-1990s, he registered the domains Awake.com, Browse.com, Bookmail.com and Relentless.com. The businessman found the name Amazon when leafing through a dictionary. He decided that the name of the largest river in the world was a perfect fit for what would become the largest bookstore in the world.

According to “A Loja de Tudo”, Bezos informed employees, still housed in a garage, and, in November 1994, registered the domain Amazon.com, which is still used today.

In an interview with Stone, Bezos said about the Amazon River: “It’s not just because it’s the biggest river in the world, it’s many times bigger than the second largest. It puts any other river to shame.”

Amazon’s more than 600,000 employees also call themselves Amazonians, in reference to the name of the river.