It took more than 25 years for the necessary and long-awaited new Federal Law for the Protection of Industrial Property to be enacted in Mexico. It is not a secret that the previous Industrial Property Law, which is no longer valid, resulted from the North American Free Trade Agreement NAFTA. More than five lustrums later, the negotiations and modernization of international treaties such as the CPTPP, USMCA and the European Union, once again stimulated legislative activity in the field of industrial property.

Two Senators from different political parties presented the main initiatives for a new law on the matter before the Mexican Senate. These initiatives were submitted for the observations and proposals of various interested sectors and stakeholders. The corresponding discussions within the Mexican Congress culminated in the Federal Law for the Protection of Industrial Property, which, in parallel with the entry into force of T-MEC, was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation on July 1, 2020.

In general terms, the Federal Law for the Protection of Industrial Property will have positive effects for all sectors that are committed to innovation. Undoubtedly, there are relevant and notable improvements in the system. However, the new Law did not solve all the relevant issues, such as the effective claim for damages derived from the violation of industrial property rights. Certain faults may well be corrected and perfected through the expected Regulation, in the application of the new Law.

The new standards of protection, transparency, digitization and reduction of time will be subject to the rigor of pragmatism and efficiency. The entry into force of the new Law, this November 5, 2020, which ushers in a new stage of Industrial Property protection in Mexico.