As we all know, since last December 1st, with the entry of a left party into the government, after a surprising won by the candidate of the party that for almost 20 years had competed for the Presidency of our country, a new era began in Mexico from a political, social and economic point of view.

This change of government and ideological current has consequently brought changes in the policies that the government is implementing in multiple sectors of public life. With a vision oriented to the social benefit of the most unprotected population of our country and promoting the economic development of indigenous communities, many of the government actions are focused to fulfill these objectives.

Likewise, the change of public officials, who are now responsible for the implementation of all the strategies defined in the government plan, is also oriented to the appointment of people who, beyond their technical capacities in their field, also have clarity of the President's social project and experience in this type of community benefit activities.

The change of leadership in the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) could not be different. The new Director has made statements in the media about the various projects that he particularly must implement during this new administration in the Mexican Patent and Trademark Office.

On the one hand there is the promotion about the real benefits of patenting to all those Mexicans involved in an innovation project both in the industrial transformation and the scientific sectors. This promotion intents to attract all Mexican inventors, whether from the industry or the academy, to approach the IMPI and file patent, industrial design or utility model applications to protect all possible innovations, with the clear purpose of increasing the number of national applications filed in our country and, little by little, balance national and foreign applications filings so that, as a country, we can generate an adequate intellectual capital that can later be commercialized with the consequent economic benefit for people, national companies and for the country in general.

To reach this goal, it is essential that the operation processes currently implemented by the IMPI are maintained and improved as necessary so that the procedures are carried out in a timely manner. It is also vital that the substantive examination procedures that IMPI follows through comply with international requisites so that all these technologies that are intended to their protection are also susceptible to be protected in those countries chosen by the owner of the right to file the patent application. In addition to seeking promotion in Mexico's innovation network, it also must guarantee that the IMPI's system will offer an effective, safe and viable result.

On the other hand, the discourse of the new Director of the IMPI is focused in the government keen interest in identifying and protecting a larger number of Denominations of Origin and in the formal start of the protection of countless Geographical Indications (GIs) that have been identified to be manufactured in multiple communities of producers throughout the national territory and that have awakened the interest of this administration to generate an economic benefit for them. This effort clearly is an intention to promote the communities' economic development at a regional level, through recognizing and positioning these products in both national and international commercial scenarios.

Besides seeking the development of benefits for communities that historically have not been able to develop an important economic presence, it is essential that the daily functional needs of the IMPI are fulfilled so its current operation won't be neglected. Additionally, in order to be able to cope with this new scheme, the leading team at IMPI will very likely look for new mechanisms to increase staff and infrastructure. Every intention to develop normally neglected economic sectors is definitely a project that must be supported. To achieve the objective, it will be necessary to continue working on the development of the IP system in general. With actions focused to this purpose, all the current users of the system and those who join in the following years will be able to say that the industrial property system in Mexico is effective in protecting but also in defending the peoples' rights.

This article was published on BC&B Newsletter page on March 12TH, 2019 which can be accessed at https://www.bcb.com.mx/publicacion/?p=impi-4t

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