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The international PCT patent application in Mexico establish that time limit to enter the National Phase is 30 months starting from the earliest patent priority you claimed.

In Mexico the rule 49.6 of the PCT agreement does not apply, therefore, the restoration of this term is not possible.

If you have a specific concern, please contact us.

In Mexico all the documents need to be filed in Spanish. In any case you filed the application in any other language, the Mexican patent office will give you two months to submit the translation.

As with all patent applications, the best option is to get a human translation made by a patent expert in that particular technical field. Translations can be the most expensive part of the application, but an inadequate translation can become a real problem in the future.

We are experts in patent translations into Spanish and will be glad to help you with this.

As in most countries, patents are valid in Mexico for a 20 years term from the application.

Regarding Industrial Designs, Mexico did a reform in 2018 affecting their lifeterm and maintenance payments. With such reform the Designs can be protected up to 25 years subjected to four renewals of 5 years each instead of annuities payments, rather than only 15 years or protection under the former law. The 5 years of validity payment start from the filing date retroactively regardless of the grant date.

It is not possible to renew patent rights in Mexico.

1. Name and address of the applicant. 2. Name, address and citizenship of the inventor(s). 3. Invention title, abstract of the Invention, utility model or design. 4. Invention, utility model or design text description. 5. Claims. 6. Priority claims (if any). 7. Set of formal drawings. 8. Translation of the foreign patent application into Spanish. 9. Official filing fee. 10. Power of Attorney.

The Mexican patent office compared with other Latin American patent offices is efficient. It can take 3 to 5 years to grant a patent.

Please keep in mind the following steps during the procedure:

Eighteen months after the application of the oldest priority date, if any, the patent application will be published. For an extra fee, it is possible to request a faster publication if necessary.

Annuities are regular payments you have to make to the Mexican patent office to keep the application or the patent alive. Some people refer to annuities as patent renewal fees and they start counting from the filing date (international if PCT application or national if Paris Convention (regular) application).

However, the first annuities payment has to be made within the grant fees when responding to the Notice of Allowance and it is based on quinquenniums (5 annuities payments). But, the annuities while the application was pending are not paid, only the corresponding quinquennium to pay which starts from the grant date (year) till the next 5 years and so on. According to the Mexican office, you have to make the payment upfront, and the first annuity has to be paid at least the last day of the month in which the application was presented.

If you are looking for a database with a patent application in Mexico, the best place to start is at the Mexican Institute for Industrial Property- IMPI. They do have an online database in Spanish that can be very useful if you know what you are looking for. It is kind of easy to find it on their website, the bottom of the main portal look for the link that says “Enlaces externos” and clicks in “Búsqueda de patentes en línea.”. Likewise, by using the “SIGA – IMPI” website you can base your query in a simpler manner by typing any word contained in the patent to search.

• Mexico is a leader in the economies of Latin America and due to its development is the main destination for patents in the region.
• The Mexican Patent Office is called the Mexican Institute for Industrial Property- IMPI
• Mexico is part of the Hague Apostille Convention
• Mexico is a contracting state of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).
• Mexico is a contracting state of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.
• Mexican IP Law enables to transform patent applications into Utility model applications during procedure according to the applicant needs or convenience.