Registration of industrial designs in Mexico – Every company that owns an industrial design and intends to expand its business in the Mexico market should use the Mexico intellectual property system. It is paramount for businesses to file an industrial design application in Mexico for industrial designs, even if the launch of the respective product on the market in Mexico has not yet commenced.
Requirements for Industrial Design Registration Application in Mexico
An industrial design application in Mexico requesting the right of priority must be filed within 6 months from the priority date.
The following information and documents need to be provided in the application for registration of an industrial design in Mexico:
- name, address, and nationality of the applicant, business address;
- request for design registration;
- representation of a design.
A certified copy of the Priority Document must be submitted within three months after filing the design application. The Mexican Trademark Office joined the WIPO Digital Access Service (DAS) and will accept the certified copies available in such database. Certified copies must be translated into Spanish.
A signed Power of Attorney is required to be filed with the application and must be signed by the applicant and two witnesses. Late filing of this document is allowed, whereby the applicant will have a two-month period for submitting this document. Legalization and certification of the POA are not required.
If the designer and the applicant are not the same, the Assignment Deed should be filed with the Mexican Patent and Trademark Office.
Examination of an Industrial Design Application in Mexico
A design application filed in the Mexican Patent Office undergoes both formal and substantive examination. No special request needs to be filed as substantive examination is carried out automatically.
Validity period and renewal of industrial designs in Mexico
In Mexico, the novelty grace period for industrial designs constitutes 12 months before the Mexican filing date or before the priority date if the inventor or the successor to his rights or any third party who obtained the information about the invention from the inventor/successor has made the design known by any means of communication, by putting the design into practice or by having displayed it at a national or international exhibition.
Once the substantive examination is over and favorable to the applicant, the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property will issue an allowance notice requesting the granting fee and maintenance fees for the first five years. The term to make these payments is two months counted from the notification date of the allowance notice. The design patent is valid for 5 years from the date of filing. The registration is renewable for consecutive periods of 5 years up to 25 years. Renewal fees are due every five years on the anniversary of the filing date until the validity of the patent is terminated. The term for requesting renewal of the registration is six months prior to the expiration date. There will be a grace period of six months.
Registration of a design application takes an average of 1-2 years dependent on whether the design process is smooth or not.
Represented by an industrial design registration attorney
An international applicant for an industrial design registration in Mexico should perform an industrial design search in Mexico through a law firm, or an industrial design attorney.
You can see a list of Mexico IP Firms here