Trademark Office Adopts 'absurd' Practice For Formalities Examination

Although Mexico became party to the Nice Agreement in March 2001, the international classification of products and services established therein was in fact adopted by the Mexican trademark system in 1989, and was formally incorporated in the Mexican Industrial Property Law in 1994. Since then, the interpretation and application of the classification by the Mexican Trademark Office has undergone many changes.

There is no doubt that the classification of products and services is not always an easy task, in light of the extraordinary developments in the manufacturing and services industries, and the sophistication of the products and services currently offered in commerce.

However, the Trademark Office has recently adopted extremely formalistic and rigid criteria during the formalities examination stage - if the descriptions of certain products or services do not appear exactly in the list of goods and services of the latest edition of the Nice Classification, the