Finally A Trademark Opposition System In Mexico

On August 30, 2016, it finally came into force the legislative reform that gives birth to the Opposition System in Mexico, and will apply to all applications for registration and publication of distinctive signs, submitted from that day.

The Opposition System seeks to enhance the effectiveness, shielding and legal certainty to the protection system of distinctive signs, to reduce the number of lengthy and costly litigations and avoid trademark kidnapping; thereby, homologating with international standards, and boosting competitiveness, innovation and foreign market.

The trademark authority, which is the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (MIIP), defines this system as a "legal instrument that allows anyone to oppose an application for trademark registration, advertising slogan or trade name, considering that might incur in any of the legal impediments of the Industrial Property Law". The opposition procedure will last three months in total, and it will be