On 3 April 2026 the decree amending the Federal Law for the Protection of Industrial Property was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation, in force from 4 April. Three weeks later, on 28 April, the new Regulations to that same law were published. They repeal the 1994 Regulations and came into force on 23 July 2026.
These are two separate changes and they should not be confused: the amendment touches the statute, the Regulations touch procedure. Together they are the broadest change to the Mexican industrial property system since the current law replaced the old Industrial Property Law in 2020. Until April of this year the country was prosecuting a 2020 statute under regulations written for its predecessor.
What the amendment to the statute brought
- Maximum terms for a decision. Trademarks, commercial advertisements and trade names: five months, provided there are no requirements and no oppositions. Renewals: three months. Patents, utility models and industrial designs: one year counted from the start of substantive examination.
- Compelled decision. A new Title Five Bis was added. If IMPI does not decide within the term, the applicant may go to a Specialized Technical Committee, which can order the responsible official to issue a final decision within ten business days, on pain of liability proceedings.
- New infringing conduct. It is now an infringement to lead the public to believe that an official sponsorship relationship exists between a distinctive sign and a mass attendance event when no such relationship exists, known as ambush marketing. And any conduct already classified as an infringement is also sanctioned when it is carried out using artificial intelligence.
- IMPI as a technology transfer agent. Its powers are widened to advise on licence and transfer agreements and to promote the use of knowledge generated in the country.
What the Regulations brought
- Representation rules for the non traditional marks the statute already recognized — sound, scent, position, movement and multimedia — with a requirement for a clear and precise description that identifies the sign applied for.
- More precise rules on consent to the coexistence of similar signs.
- Alternative dispute resolution mechanisms within infringement proceedings.
- Reinforced electronic prosecution of filings before the Institute.
- A transitional rule: matters already pending are governed by the provisions in force when they were filed.
What did not change
The deadlines that govern your file are the same, and they are the ones that cost rights:
- One month to oppose a published application (article 221).
- Two months to answer a requirement, an impediment or an opposition (article 225), plus two further months that run automatically on payment of the corresponding fee (article 226).
- Ten years of protection counted from the grant, not from filing (article 178), renewable within the six months before expiry and admissible up to six months after (articles 237 and 238).
- The declaration of use within three months of the third anniversary of the grant (article 233). Miss it and the registration lapses by operation of law.
- Modifying the mark, or adding or substituting goods and services to overcome an impediment, turns the application into a new filing with a new filing date (article 227).
What to check in your file
If you have an application pending, confirm the rules it was filed under: the transitional provision may keep it outside the new Regulations. If you manage a portfolio, review the declaration of use and renewal calendar, which the amendment did not touch. And if an office action has been served, verify the current requirements for the response before drafting it.
For the foreign owner there is one point that did not change and that still closes more files than any other: notification by Gazette takes effect on publication alone (article 20), whether or not the courtesy email arrived. The term runs either way.