Mexico- Amendments to the Industrial Property Law: Industrial Designs, Trademarks and Denominations of Origin and Geographical Indications.
Amendments to the Industrial Property Law, were published in the Federal Official Gazette on March 13, 2018 and will enter into force on April 27, 2018. The changes are as follows:
Industrial Designs
a) Incorporation of concepts related to the novelty required for the registration of an industrial design such as "independent creation" and "significant degree".
b) The validity of the industrial design is now 5 years, renewable for equal periods until reaching a maximum of 25 years.
Note: Industrial design registrations granted prior to the entry into force of these amendments, retain the validity granted until their expiration, and must be paid for five-year periods or annuities. These registrations may be renewed for up to two successive periods of 5 years without exceeding 25 years.
Procedure for granting inventions
a) Applications for utility models and industrial designs must be published in the Gazette once the formal examination has been approved.
b) Divisional patent applications will also be published in the Gazette.
c) The 6 months period granted for any person to submit information regarding whether the application complies with the requirements provided by law, has been reduced to 2 months.
Trademarks
a) The expressions "gender"," type", "manner," "imitation," "produced in" or similar expressions that may create confusion in the consumer or imply unfair competition have been incorporated as non-registrable for distinctive signs.
Denominations of origin (DO) and Geographical Indications (GI)
a) The possibility of registering a Geographical Indication has been introduced.
b) Grounds for the recognition (registrability) are established for DOs and GIs, similar to those of trademarks.
c) Oppositions may be filed within a period of 2 months against the application for the recognition of a DO or IG.
d) A formal procedure has been established for the recognition and registration of DOs and GIs coming from abroad.
e) Administrative infringements and crimes related to DOs and GIs have been incorporated.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
