The last March 19, 2010 came into force the AGREEMENT by means of which the preceding agreement that establishes the guidelines for filing applications before the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (MIIP), issued by the General Director of the MIIP and published in the Official Journal of the Federation on March 18, 2010, was modified.

The amending agreement's purpose is to determine the rules and guidelines that shall be fulfilled within the annexes of patent and trademark applications that are to be filed before the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property.

By means of this agreement, Article 1.III, 11, 33 and 34 of the agreement that establishes the guidelines for filing applications before the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property were amended and Article 1.IV, 12 BIS 1, 16 BIS 2, 16 BIS 3, 35, 36 and 37 of the aforementioned agreement were incorporated.

Given the fact that the agreement of reference came into force the past March 19, 2010, and considering that, as of April 1st, 2010, the employment of the new official forms, which were included as an attachment to the referred agreement, will be mandatory, we consider important the most outstanding modifications comprehended in this agreement, namely:

1.Trademark applications (Article 11 from the amending agreement).

Regarding trademark applications, the amending agreement establishes that a exemplary (only one) of the trademark shall be adhered to the trademark application that corresponds, and will consist of a black and white or color print, no bigger than 4 x 4 inches (10 x 10 cm or smaller than 1.5 x 1.5 inches (4 x 4 cm).

1.1. when the requested trademark consist of a three-dimensional shape, it shall be adhered:

  • 1.1.1. one exemplary of a photographic print o of the drawing in black and white or, if it is the case, in colors, from the three different facades of the three-dimensional shape that corresponds, no bigger than 4 x 4 inches (10 x 10 cm or smaller than 1.5 x 1.5 inches (4 x 4 cm).

  • 1.1.2. one additional exemplary of any façade if the trademark can not be sufficiently illustrated with only one exemplary of each façade.

2. Priority document for patent applications. (Article 12 BIS from the amending agreement).

To recognize the priority set forth in Article 40 and 41 of the Mexican Industrial Property Law, the MIIP will admit the certified copy of the patent application or registration issued by the competent authority from the country of origin, contained in any data storage device, as long as the information therein contained can be read through any suitable method and has not been altered or edited.

The documents written in another language rather than Spanish must be filed along with their corresponding translation into Spanish.

Once the data storage device has been filed before the MIIP it will not be returned to the applicant.

3. Sequence list (Article 16 BIS, 16 BIS 1, 16 BIS 2, 16 BIS 3 from the amending agreement).

The nucleotide and amino acid sequence list, besides from printed, may also be filed as an electronic file contained within a data storage device, as long as it is legible through any suitable method for that matter.

a. Sequence list: The list may be created using any computer program designed for that end.

b. Electronic file: The list shall be contained in an electronic file within a data storage device, which must not contain any other file and will not be retuned to the applicant once it is filed before the MIIP.

c. Data storage device: It shall be submitted with one adhered permanent label, which must comply with the following specifications:

1.- Be typed or printed.

2.- With black and inerasable capital letters that are not smaller than 0.21 cm height (typography number 10, approximately).

3.- show the name of the applicant, the title of the invention and the date on which the sequence list was saved as an electronic document; only in the event that the data storage device is being filed in furtherance to the application filing date, the label shall show besides from the aforementioned, the application number and the filing date.

d. Anexes: Along with the data storage device, the applicant must submit the following:

  1. one original print from the information contained in the data storage device,
  2. a sworn written statement that the printed information is identical to that contained in the data storage device.

e. Amendments: any correction or amendment that includes the sequence list filed in a data storage device shall comply with all of the abovementioned requisites.

4. Name of the procedures and services.

A catalog of procedures and services is contained in Article 33 of the amending agreement.

5. Official forms

The unique addendum to the amending agreement contains the new official forms for the filing of applications, which names are catalogued in Article 34 of said agreement.

The new official form for obtaining a trademark registration foresees the possibility of having said application signed, under sworn statement of veracity, by the applicant or his/her legal representative, whom may be exempted of filing the document by means of which he demonstrate his/her legal capacity to act on behalf of the applicant (Power of Attorney), as long as he/she is the only person that intervenes on the prosecution of the requested trademark, and consequently, who signs all the briefs and documents up until the conclusion of the procedure.

6. Applications/briefs that do not need to be filed by means of an official form.

The applications and/or briefs that do not need to be filed by means of an official form, shall be filed on the same manner that up until today, this being, in duplicate (original plus one copy), outlining the following:

  • Type of procedure that is being requested.
  • Number of application, patent, registration, publication, declaration or folium.
  • Date of reception (except in cases of initial briefs for patent or trademark registration applications).

7. International patent applications (PCT).

The format of the application shall be the one in force at the moment of its filing before the MIIP and shall comply with the international provisions applicable for IP matters, as well as with the guidelines that have been issued by the competent international authority.

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.