ARTICLE
11 July 2012

Scope Of New Specialised Courts Widened

O
OLIVARES

Contributor

Our mission is to provide innovative solutions and highly specialized legal advice for clients facing the most complicated legal and business challenges in Mexico. OLIVARES is continuously at the forefront of new practice areas concerning copyright, litigation, regulatory, anti-counterfeiting, plant varieties, domain names, digital rights, and internet-related matters, and the firm has been responsible for precedent-setting decisions in patents, copyrights, and trademarks. Our firm is committed to developing the strongest group of legal professionals to manage the level of complexity and interdisciplinary orientation that clients require. During the first decade of the 21st century, the team successfully led efforts to reshape IP laws and change regulatory authorizations procedures in Mexico, not only through thought leadership and lobbying efforts, but the firm has also won several landmark and precedent-setting cases at the Mexican Federal and Supreme Courts levels, including in constitutional matters.
In 2008, the Federal Court for Tax and Administrative Affairs (FCTAA) created a Specialized IP Court to decide all the cases related to IP rights, which started work in January 2009.
Mexico Intellectual Property

Managing Intellectual Property, February 2011

In 2008, the Federal Court for Tax and Administrative Affairs (FCTAA) created a Specialized IP Court to decide all the cases related to IP rights, which started work in January 2009.

But whenever cases referred to arguments based on International IP Treaties, such as the Paris Convention or TRIPS, the files were sent to the High Bench of the FCTAA, as this Bench had exclusive jurisdiction in this regard.

This generated two separate problems: the magistrates of the High Bench mostly specialized in tax issues and decisions were delayed for months, due to the Bench's backlog.

As a result the internal law of the FCTAA was amended last month, empowering Specialized Courts to decide cases based on International Treaties.

At this point the only Specialized Court at the FCTAA is the IP Court, but there are plans to open additional Specialized Courts, starting with one on antitrust issues.

Additionally, the Federal Contentious Administrative Proceedings Law (FCAPL) was amended to establish the "via sumaria" (summary venue). This reform should reduce the periods provided to parties, authorities, and the FCTAA to prosecute the nullity trial, by establishing shorter deadlines.

At this venue, once the Court admits the trial, it has to indicate the date to review and determine if the trial is ready for the issuance of the decision on the merits, which cannot exceed 60 days.

Lawsuits challenging administrative decisions going against precedents set forth by the Mexican Supreme Court concerning unconstitutional laws, or precedents from the High Bench of the FCTAA, can be studied under this new venue.

The summary venue cannot be used for fines imposed for infringement of IP rights, and therefore it will not be used in patent or trademark infringement cases, but cancellation cases and other decisions by the Mexican authorities with jurisdiction on IP matters could be challenged through it.

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.

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