Carolina Souza

Professional Experience

Carolina Souza joined the Firm in 2025. She integrates the IPTech Litigation practice group, with focus on complex litigation before state and federal courts involving infringement and nullity intellectual property cases. Ms. Souza has experience handling disputes in patent law, in the ICT and pharma fields. Prior to joining Trench Rossi Watanabe, she worked as an attorney and as a law clerk at prominent Brazilian law firms specialized in intellectual property. Her professional and academic background also reflects a commitment to strengthening legal, political, economic, financial, and cultural ties between Latin America and East/Southeast Asia, with particular emphasis on Brazil–China relations

Awards and Recognitions

Ms. Souza was recognized by the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (INPI) with fourth place in its first innovation competition—the INPI Hackathon—in 2021. The event brought together professionals from diverse fields to develop technological solutions aimed at improving services, fostering a culture of innovation, enhancing protection strategies, and expanding the use of databases within Brazil’s intellectual property system.

In 2023, Ms. Souza was awarded third place in the inaugural Monograph Competition “Minister Guilherme Palmeira Award”, promoted by the Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts (TCU), for a co-authored paper on consensual dispute resolution within the Public Administration.

Academic Background

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law from Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio).

Activities outside the office

Carolina Souza is a Researcher at the Legalite Research Center since 2021, a Multidisciplinary Research Center in Legal Informaticscoordinated by Prof. Dr. Caitlin Mulholland, integrated into the ECOA Institute in partnership with the Law Department at the PUC-Rio. Legalite seeks to develop legal research that studies the impacts of new technologies and the need to (re)think and ensure the protections of human beings in an increasingly digital world.

She is also the Director of Integrity and Legal Operations at Observa China 观中国, a Think and Net Tank that fosters a connected and thoughtful community engaged in discussions on China’s growing global relevance, particularly in its relations with Portuguese-speaking countries and the Global South, that also organize paper publication periodically.

She is also a member of CMA – the Center for Consensual Dispute Resolution Methods at PUC-Rio since 2020, a study group dedicated to advancing knowledge and practices in alternative dispute resolution.

Publications

Author/co-author of several articles, such as:

– Strategic Alliances in Tech: The Evolution of Brazil-China Relations in Semiconductors and Telecommunications (2014-2024), Macau Journal of Brazilian Studies, available at: https://aebm.mo/en/list-39/231, 2025 (co-author);

– Um é pouco, dois é bom, três é demais? Para se requerer exame de um pedido de patente, três anos é muito melhor (only in Portuguese), Migalhas, available at:

https://www.migalhas.com.br/depeso/416733/para-se-requerer-exame-de-pedido-de-patente-tres-anos-e-m uito-melhor, 2024 (co-author);

– Digital Currencies in the Developing World: Coordinating and Sandboxing CBDCs, T20 Brasil, available at:https://www.t20brasil.org/media/documentos/arquivos/TF03_ST_01_Digital_Currencies66e19725602cd .pdf, 2024 (co-author);

– Cooperação Brasil-China: Uma nova página para a indústria de telecomunicações?, Observa China 观中国, available at: https://www.observachina.org/articles/cooperacao-brasil-china, 2023 (co-author);

– O Direito de Dano e a Proteção de Dados Pessoais em Perspectiva Comparada (only in Portuguese), CONPEDI, available at: https://site.conpedi.org.br/publicacoes/906terzx/0h81i186/bODFRBJhg8J2K49X.pdf, 2022 (co-author);

– A Lei de Proteção de Informações Pessoais (PIPL) e o Papel do Direito numa China Hiperconectada, Observa China 观中国, available at: https://www.observachina.org/articles

Languages

Portuguese, English and Chinese.