The New Legal Regime for Trademarks in Mexico's Federal Law for the Protection of Industrial Property

Abstract

The article is an analysis of the aspects that, in the opinion of the author, are relevant to the procedure for registering distinctive signs in Mexico, under the new Federal Law for the Protection of Industrial Property, understanding such distinctive signs such as: Trademarks, Notices and Trade Names. A description is made of the new legal protection figures such as non-traditional marks: olfactory, sound, certification, commercial image, holographic. Likewise, it describes, analyzes and concludes on the effectiveness of the opposition procedure. Similarly, a criticism is made of the constitutionality of article 221 of the Federal Law for the Protection of Industrial Property, since they put into question questions about the provision of evidence in a diverse procedure and with different legal effects. It is announced about the changes that exist regarding the validity of the registration of distinctive signs, as well as the Declaration of Use; as well as the different date periods that must be considered to correctly process said declaration before the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property. The term "bad faith" is conceptualized when applying for a trademark registration whose purpose is to obtain an undue competitive benefit or advantage to the detriment of whoever has the best right to do so, which will result in a legal impediment and the probable refusal of the Registration. In short, the procedure for registering a distinctive sign in Mexico is proposed, from the filing of an application to its possible concession by the Administrative Authority.