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The Mexico logo must be
registered with the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (Instituto
Mexicano de Propiedad Industrial, or IMPI). Since the legal system of Mexico is
civil law (i.e., code-based), there is no common law as exists in the
jurisprudence of the countries such as the United States and Canada. Therefore
in Mexico logo registration is essential for ownership of a logo in Mexico. Besides,
the registration of the mark in other countries does not confer legal rights to
the mark in Mexico.
Characteristics of Mexico Logo Application
Mexico Logo applications can be
filed either in hard copy at the IMPI or electronically, a new serial number
will be generated for every new application. Then, the IMPI scans the
application official form along with the documents submitted with it, which
means that your application becomes public knowledge and can be easily found on
the electronic database of the IMPI just like you found other logos while
performing the logo availability search.
It is worth mentioning that
there are no intent-to-use applications since they are received under good
faith presumption. This means that unless you expressly state you have not used
your mark, it is presumed that your mark is in commerce (it is not compulsory
to prove the actual use of the mark). Moreover, there are no multi-class
applications, if you wish to protect your logo for several products or services
a single application is required for each independent class of goods or
services.
Mexico Logo Examination Procedure
Once the Mexico logo application
is submitted, the IMPI makes a formal logo examination which is focused on
checking compliance with all formal requirements provided by law (goods and/or
services classification check, payment of the official fees, etc.).
If a formal requirement is not
met, the IMPI will issue an Office Action requiring the applicant to amend the
application within four months (non-extendable). If the amendment is not made
within such period the application shall be considered abandoned and therefore,
you will not get logo registration.
If there is still missing a
formal requirement, a new Office Action will be issued and the applicant must
respond within the same period of time.
After the formal logo
examination, the substantive logo examination takes place. That is to say that
your application is assigned to a logo examiner within the IMPI, who will
review the application and will determine whether it is eligible for
registration or not. Some of the reasons for refusal of registration are:
descriptiveness of the logo or likelihood of confusion between another or other
logos already granted. The logo applicant is given a period of time of four
months (non-extendable) to respond to an Office Action issued by the logo
examiner.
After submitting your response,
the examiner will consider your arguments and they will decide to grant
registration or not. If the examiner’s decision is not favorable to you, then
you will have the option to appeal to the Federal Court of Fiscal and
Administrative Justice (TFJFA).
If the substantive logo
examination phase is successful and you overcome any objections raised by the logo
examiner then your mark is entitled to federal registration. The IMPI will
issue a certificate of logo registration and your mark will be published in the
Official Gazette.
It is worth mentioning that
there are no opposition procedures in the Mexican logo system. If an interested
party considers that its rights are affected by the registration of a logo,
such party has the option to request the cancellation of the logo registration,
the deadline for requesting the cancellation depends on the basis on which this
legal action is sought.
How long does it take to get a logo certificate?
The estimated time for getting a
mark registered in Mexico may vary, for example; if a logo application was duly
submitted and there are no Office Actions in the formal examination and neither
the existence of any objections raised by the examiner, the applicant will
usually get a logo certificate in approximately of six months. Otherwise, it may
take one year and a half or even more depending on the circumstances of each
case.
Mexico Logo Protection
A registered Mexico logo has a
protection term of ten (10) years, which may be renewed an unlimited number of
times for succeeding ten-year terms. The initial term begins on the application
date in Mexico.
Contact
us
If you have further queries, please contact Tannet
24 hours Malaysia hotline：603-21418908;
24 hours Hong Kong hotline：852-27837818;
24 hours Hong Kong hotline：86-755- 36990589;
Email: mytannet@gmail.com
TANNET GROUP: http://www.tannet-group.net, http://en.tannet.com.my