Comprehensive Reform of the Mexican Federal Law (LFPPI): What Every Company and Inventor must Know for Mexican Patent Practice

Six years after its entry into force, the government advanced a comprehensive amendment, the bill of which was submitted before the Senate and culminated in the publication of the reform decree on April 3, 2026.

The magnitude of this amendment is historic and is aimed at modernizing the system, aligning it with best international practices and addressing the challenges posed by digitalization and artificial intelligence to the protection of industrial property rights.

The significant changes to the Mexican intellectual property system and their most relevant aspects are as follows:

Provisional patent application

The inventor or their assignee may file a provisional patent application in Mexico, so that the date and time at which the provisional patent application was received in Mexico is recognized as the filing date of a patent application, bearing a significant similarity to the standard U.S. provisional application system.

This legal figure is particularly useful for startups, universities, and domestic inventors with limited resources. Among its key benefits, the following are highlighted:

• Preserves the filing date while the complete application is being prepared.
• The filing date and time are formally recognized.
• Only requires the inventor’s name and a description identifying the invention.
• A non-extendable twelve (12)-month term to file the formal application.
• It is neither published nor examined.
• It does not generate a right of priority with respect to another application (it operates exclusively within Mexico’s domestic system).
• If the term lapses without a formal application being filed, the provisional application shall be deemed abandoned ex officio.

Patent entitlement proceedings

Where a patent has been granted to a party lacking the right to obtain it, or has been improperly awarded to a person other than the legitimate titleholder, the latter may assert an ownership claim at any time by filing a petition for an administrative declaration before the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI), provided that the patent remains in force at the time of the claim.

Should the claim be declared admissible, the Institute shall order the reissuance of the patent title in favor of the claimant, as well as its publication in the Industrial Property Gazette, so that the change of ownership shall produce full legal effects against third parties.

Maximum timeframes for substantive examination decisions

• Maximum term of one (1) year to issue decisions on patents, utility models, and industrial designs from the commencement of substantive examination.
• For layout designs of integrated circuits, a maximum of two (2) months from filing or from the date the last office action requirement is satisfied.

Restoration of rights and reinstatement of priority

Mechanisms are introduced to prevent the automatic forfeiture of rights due to formal non-compliance, thereby reducing the loss of valuable patents caused by administrative oversights, miscalculation of deadlines, or changes of legal representative, particularly in PCT application proceedings.

Prior to the authority declaring abandonment, the applicant of a patent, utility model, or industrial design may file a petition for restoration of rights within fifteen (15) business days following the expiration of the unmet deadline.

Likewise, for the reinstatement of a priority right, an applicant who has failed to satisfy all statutory requirements to claim their priority right for a patent, utility model, or industrial design may request its reinstatement within two (2) months following the expiration of the applicable deadline.

Establishment of the specialized technical committee

A Specialized Technical Committee is established within the governance structure of the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI), with the purpose of reviewing and resolving petitions for the issuance of mandatory decisions in pending patent or registration matters.

Said Committee shall be composed of a minimum of three (3) representatives appointed by the Institute’s Board of Directors and shall have as its primary function the administration of the mandatory decision procedure in cases where unjustified delay in the processing of pending matters is identified.

Issuance of mandatory decisions

The amendment introduces a mandatory decision mechanism enabling interested parties to compel IMPI to issue a final determination when the statutory deadlines established for the prosecution of patents or registrations have been unjustifiably exceeded. Oversight of this mechanism is vested in the newly created Specialized Technical Committee, integrated within the Institute’s own governance structure.

The Specialized Technical Committee is tasked with reviewing, addressing, and determining the admissibility of petitions related to mandatory decision proceedings in patent and registration matters. Its intervention provides the system with an additional layer of institutional oversight aimed at ensuring the timely resolution of proceedings before IMPI.

The holder of an application may petition the Committee to initiate the corresponding procedure when the Institute has failed to issue a decision within the statutory timeframes. Once the mechanism is activated, the Committee shall require the public official responsible for the proceeding to submit the corresponding report, on the basis of which it shall assess the situation and issue the final determination warranted under applicable law.

Expansion of the scope of Third-Party Observations (Oppositions)

The scope of the third-party observation’s mechanism is broadened, permitting any person, without the need to demonstrate legal standing, to submit before IMPI technically or documentarily relevant information for the analysis of patentability or registrability not only with respect to invention patents, but also utility models and industrial designs.

This expansion reinforces the principle of enhanced substantive examination and contributes to raising the quality and robustness of the rights granted by the Institute.

Supplementary certificate for unreasonable delay in obtaining marketing authorization

A new potential compensation mechanism for patent term extension is established in connection with unreasonable delays in obtaining marketing authorization from the sanitary authority (COFEPRIS). To that end, said sanitary authority must formally recognize and determine such delay in order to request IMPI to issue a supplementary certificate adjusting the term of the patent in question, not to exceed five (5) years, closely analogous to the existing mechanism for obtaining a term extension certificate arising from delays in patent prosecution attributable to IMPI.

This provision is intended to afford patent holders in the pharmaceutical and biotechnological sectors a scope of protection that compensates for the waiting period involved in obtaining marketing authorization, which in many cases takes several years, thereby enabling the titleholder to commercially exploit the invention for a reasonable additional period, recover their investment, and foster the development of new active pharmaceutical ingredients, compositions, biotechnological innovations, and medical uses in the healthcare sector thus providing greater legal certainty and security to patent holders engaged in marketing authorization proceedings.

However, it remains pending for the sanitary authority to incorporate this compensatory mechanism within its own regulatory legal framework before its practical implementation becomes feasible. Further clarification is also needed as to whether this mechanism applies to all categories of patents beyond those protecting allopathic biotechnological pharmaceuticals and medical uses, the specific grounds to which delays may be attributed (i.e., in administrative, technical, or other terms), and the timeframes to be considered in determining what falls within or outside a reasonable period for regulatory proceedings.

Overview of the LFPPI comprehensive reform

The comprehensive amendment to the Federal Law for the Protection of Industrial Property represents a watershed moment in the Mexican industrial property system and, with it, a strategic opportunity to review, strengthen, and optimize the management of your intangible assets. Given the magnitude and complexity of the changes introduced, obtaining specialized legal counsel is not merely advisable it is indispensable to ensure the full validity and enforceability of your rights.

At H&A, we have a multidisciplinary team of attorneys and specialized agents, with extensive experience in the strategic management of trademark and patent portfolios, as well as in the principal international treaties governing the field. We are prepared to accompany you at every stage this reform demands, from the analysis of its impact on your existing rights to the design and implementation of the strategy best suited to your needs and interests.