A dispute between the members of the Rosewood São Paulo hotel, located in the heart of the gardens, has come to court with serious accusations: French businessman Alexandre Allard states that Chinese Holding Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Limited (CTF), his former partner in the venture, would have committed industrial espionage and plagiarized elements of the architectural project known as the Matarazzo City.
Judge Laura de Mattos Almeida, of the 29th Civil Court of São Paulo, authorized an expertise for Early production of evidencea legal resource used to preserve essential elements before they can be changed or lost. With this, a technical survey will be performed at the hotel, with the objective of assessing whether there was indeed improper reproduction of copyright -protected creations.
According to experts heard by Infomoneyarchitectural projects are protected by Copyright Law (Law 9.610/98). In its article 7, the legislation includes as intellectual works protected the projects of architecture, landscaping and urbanism. In addition, the Council of Architecture and Urbanism (CAU) determines that the reproduction of two or more elements of a project – such as volumetric form, functional distribution and spatial identity – can configure plagiarism.
The focus of the expertise will be precisely to identify details that confirm if there was unauthorized reproduction of elements created by Allard, such as the use of plants on the balconies, the arrangement of furniture and the architectural structure of the complex towers. The entrepreneur claims that, despite being a partner at the origin of the project, he never formally gave way to the copyright for the current business structure – which, according to him, makes the use and reproduction of these illegal elements.
In addition to the recognition of the authorship, the entrepreneur seeks compensation for misuse and the right to be credited as the author of the work. If the experts confirm that the project is its own and that it has not given up the rights to the company, the decision may impact future projects that want to replicate the Rosewood model.
Still at an early stage, the process is moving towards a long dispute. After the appointment of the judicial expert, the parties must present technical assistants and formulate the questions that will guide the report. From this analysis, a possible main action for material and moral damages may be filed.
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What the experts say
According to lawyer Alan Campos Thomaz, partner of Campos Thomaz Advogados, the copyright law guarantees important protection to the responsible for architectural works. “Without express authorization, usually obtained by contract, third parties cannot reproduce, change or use the project in a total or partial way, as it is an exclusive creation of the author,” he said.
But, according to the expert, it is also important to understand the difference between “inspiration” and “copy” of an architectural project. Inspiration occurs when a new project is based on general ideas or concepts, without reproducing essential parts of the original work, which does not constitute copyright violation. The total or partial copy involves unauthorized reproduction of substantial elements of the original project. “Therefore, to determine if there is actually infringement, it is common to carry out a technical expert to identify the relevant similarities between the works,” he explains.
To protect the work before execution, it is also possible to use the confidentiality of projects and memorials, which are safeguarded by the Industrial Property Law (Law No. 9,279/96). “Maintaining confidentiality, therefore, can be an important preventive measure to avoid unauthorized use of an architectural project,” says Thomaz.
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Intangible assets
For lawyer Mariana Valverde, specializing in intellectual property and business fashion law, the case reinforces the growing importance of intangible assetsas copyright and brands projects, in the value of companies. “In times of artificial intelligence and accelerated innovation, protecting authorship and creative rights has become fundamental – both for creators and investors,” he says.
According to the lawyer, people often care about the financial part when they sell a company and do not observe intangible assets, which can raise the value of a project. “This is exactly why the court has allowed early expertise, because it is guaranteed that the original production will not be modified, the project is by the author and, especially, that he did not give up his rights,” says the lawyer, adding that the process is very at the beginning and the next step will be the appointment of experts and the execution of the expertise, which can take up to a year or two to be completed.
Sought, the direction of the Rosewood Hotel stated that “at this time, BM Empreendimentos is not commenting on the case.” Allard’s lawyers were not found either. The space is still open for statements.
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Conflict History
In 2010, Allard acquired, through one of his Allard Group companies, the former Umberto I Hospital Complex, popularly known by Matarazzo Hospital. The Cidade Matarazzo Project was conceived in 2013 by the businessman. Months after the completion of the project, to financially enforce the execution, Allard came to have investments from the CTF, made through BM 888 Investment Fund (“FIP BM 888”), owner of almost all the user of the BM Entrepreneurship, as the newspaper revealed, as revealed. Economic value.
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Thus, the Chinese group became a partner and today Allard would have about 34% of the quotas, being the remainder in possession of the CTF, according to sources in the newspaper. In the process, Allard’s defense claims that the relationship between the partners has been deteriorating for some time, a conflict that was intensified because of the 11th and 12th emissions of convertible private debentures in common actions issued by BM Empreendimentos, and were subscribed and integrated by the CTF. This would be diluting Allard’s participation in the company.
