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In the recent Reform that entered in force to Mexico’s Federal Law for the Protection of Industrial Property (LFPPI), a special emphasis has been made to reduce the overall prosecution timeframe for all patent, utility model and design applications.
This Reform establishes a maximum timeframe for the Mexican PTO (IMPI) to resolve on the issuance or rejection of a patent application, utility model or design application which should not exceed one year after substantive examination has begun. If after one year there has been no resolution, the applicant may request the issuance of a mandatory resolution through the newly created specialized technical committee that is appointed by IMPI’s board of directors.
In order to comply with these tight prosecution timeframes, an amendment to the administrative regulations was introduced to limit the number of substantive office actions from four to only two for all patent and utility model applications. This amendment entered in force on March 12, 2026, and applies to all patent and utility model applications filed in Mexico from that date and onwards.
While the effort to reduce prosecution timeframes is recognized, there is general uncertainty on the feasibility for the Mexican PTO to handle this significant increase in their workload and if this shortening of timeframes could provoke a massive filing of requests for mandatory resolutions by applicants. There is also concern that there will be a decrease in the quality of the substantive office actions in view of the reduced timeframes.
The new prosecution timeframes will apply for all patent applications that are filed in Mexico starting from the date in which the Reform has entered in force. However, applications that are pending and which were filed before the Reform entered into force can apply for a mandatory resolution once the specialized technical committee has been assembled.
Further developments are anticipated, as the implementation of the Regulations is still pending and is expected to occur in the near term.
At OLIVARES, we are closely monitoring the implementation of these changes and will keep you informed of any further relevant developments.
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