In November 2016, a court ruling from the Circuit Collegiate
Courts was published in Mexico. This court ruling is not binding
but it is considered as an important reference for the
interpretation of patent claims in litigation, especially for a
concept similar to the long discussed doctrine of equivalents.
According to this court ruling, the Circuit Collegiate Court
considered that the decision about infringement must rely on the
opinion of an expert witness, who should apply his own expertise in
the technical area of the case, and who must provide a broad
interpretation of the claimed features of the invention based on
functionally substitute elements.
It is important to recall that the doctrine of equivalents is
not expressly contemplated by the Mexican Intellectual Property
Law, and in fact, until this decision came up, it was generally
accepted by Mexican IP Law practitioners that the legal framework
required a literal approach to be taken in order to
