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Amendments to Trademark Laws

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Jun 14, 2016 (Newsletter Issue 11/16)
Mexico
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Trademark Opposition System Soon Available


The Chamber of Deputies approved a Decree amending the Mexican Industrial Property Law (IPL) to implement a trademark opposition system in Mexico on April 28, 2016. The Decree was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation (Diario Oficial de la Federación) and will become effective on August 30, 2016.

The Mexican Trademark Office’s (MTO) needs to publish the trademark application once it is has been received within 10 business days in the Gazette and carry out a formal examination of the same, as well as the documentation filed, to determine whether the requirements specified in this Law and its Regulations are obeyed.

Third parties can now file an opposition within one month of the date of its publication in the Gazette. No extension of the one month opposition period is allowed. After that one month opposition period expires, a list of those applications that were opposed will be published in the Gazette within the following 10 business days.

The following needs to be noted:
- The opposition will not result in any suspension of the registration process;
- Opposing an application does not grant the opposing party any status as an interested third party;
- The opposition shall not automatically determine the outcome of the in-depth examination carried out by the MTO; and
- The MTO may consider in its analysis the opposition and statements made in response by the applicant.

Under the prior system an in-depth examination of an application was carried out by the MTO based on the information or documentation at hand.

With the new system third parties receive the possibilities to file information, evidence, and documentation regarding their respective marks that will allow the MTO to better assess the registrability of a distinctive element in a new application. By this a new registration that could infringe or jeopardize previously granted rights will be weakened.

For further information on how the opposition system will work, please check here

Source: Hogan Lovells, Mexico and Bufete Soni, Mexico