Mexico Chapter of Global Patent GO——Introduction to Patent Application in Mexico

Mexico with unlimited potential

For most Chinese, Mexico, this distant Central American ancient civilization, is quite a strange existence. I think most people's understanding of Mexico may only be in the impression of an ancient Indian culture. For a world-famous Mayan culture, Olmec Toltec culture and Aztec culture that once gave birth country, it seems difficult for people to change the impression that it is a backward country in Latin America. If we trace the relationship between China and Mexico, we can probably trace back to the goods exchanges between China and Spain in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Mexican silver mine was once an important source of silver casting in the Qing Dynasty. In the late Qing Dynasty, the Mexican silver dollar was the Chinese province. The standard for minted currency. It was the prevailing silver dollar business here that made Kang Youwei, who was in exile around the world after the failure of the Reform Movement of 1898, favor Mexico, and made huge profits in Mexico by investing in real estate, banks, trams and other industries.

After joining the North American Free Trade Area in 1994, Mexico became one of the most open economies in the world. It signed free trade agreements with 52 countries and established a huge strategic trade network. Some analysts believe that as a newly industrialized country, relying on its unique location advantages, resource advantages, market advantages and investment environment advantages, it is estimated that by 2050, Mexico will become the fifth or seventh largest economy in the world. Since entering the 21st century, China has become Mexico's second largest source of imports and third largest export destination. Mexico is China's second largest trading partner and largest export destination in Latin America.

With the entry into force of the "Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement" (CPTPP) and the "United States-Canada-Mexico Agreement" (USMCA) in Mexico, Mexico's relevant intellectual property system has also been revised. The latest "Intellectual Property Protection Federal Act" It has come into force on November 5, 2021. The patent part involved mainly refers to the international practice, which clarifies the scope of patent protection that can be applied for, the change of the valid period of the patent, the reissuance of the application for the patent certificate, and the first annual fee payment is included after the patent granted/or the certificate is approved. fees, cancellation of registration procedures for patent licenses, etc.

Fact Sheet on Patents in Mexico

1. Paths for Chinese applicants to apply for patents in Mexico

Paris Convention, via Nationalization of PCT entry into Mexico national phase, direct application.

2. Review unit

The Mexican Industrial Property Institute, IMPI, an independent agency established by the former Mexican Ministry of Industry and Commerce, is responsible for managing all matters related to patents and trademarks.

3. Submit your application

1) Time limit requirements: IMPI does not accept priority recovery, the Paris route must be within 12 months, and the PCT application must enter the Mexican national phase within 30 months.

2) Submit the application: paper or electronic submission; due to the impact of the epidemic, patent applications originally submitted on paper have been changed to electronic online for review and payment. Patent applications filed electronically after November 9, 2020 will enjoy a 90% reduction in official fees.

3) Filing Language: Submissions in any language are acceptable, but a Spanish translation must be submitted within 2 months after receiving the correction.

4. Formal examination

IMPI conducts a formal review, and if all formal conditions are met, the application can be accepted and the filing date determined.

5. Disclosure, Review and Authorization

The patent application will be published 18 months after the filing date/priority date and will automatically enter the substantive examination. There is no need for the applicant to submit a separate request for substantive examination. The applicant must provide relevant professional institutions in Mexico, industrial ownership institutions, foreign patent offices, etc. Review the results and apply the principle of absolute novelty. During the review process, IMPI will issue a maximum of 4 review opinions. If the defects still cannot be overcome, the patent application will be rejected, and no further amendments, statements and divisions can be made. Therefore, if the applicant receives the 3rd or 4th examination opinion, it is best to actively communicate with the examiner or request a meeting in advance to avoid the result of rejection.

Advantages of filing a patent in Mexico

1. In Mexico, when an invention patent application fails to meet the conditions for invention patent granted, the applicant can apply to convert the invention into a patent within 3 months from the date of application or within 3 months from the date of receipt of the notification utility model or design.

2. As an administrative law enforcement agency, IMPI has a wide range of administrative protection objects, including patents, trademarks, trade secrets, advertisements, trade names, certificates of origin, layout designs of integrated circuits, copyrights, neighboring rights, etc., and IMPI’s administrative enforcement is extremely strong. Large, not only the right to take interim measures, but also administrative detention and other coercive measures, and once the administrative mediation is reached, it has the force of enforcement.

3. The United States Patent and Trademark Office USPTO and the Mexican Industrial Property Institute IMPI have implemented a new Parallel Patent Grant (PPG) project since December 7, 2020. The two offices have signed a work-sharing agreement to expedite the process for Mexican patent applicants to be granted, provided the same patent has already been granted in the United States. This move has greatly accelerated the review process of IMPI. At present, the average time for issuing the first review notice of IMPI is 90 days.

4. Mexico's new industrial property law, which came into effect in November 2021, extends the protection period of utility models from 10 years to 15 years, and introduces a supplementary protection certificate system.

Friendliness to Chinese applicants:

★★★★★

Gold content of patent rights:

★★★

The degree of perfection of the rights protection mechanism:

★★★★