BY JUAN LUIS SERRANO Back in 2003, Mexico enacted linkage regulations to avoid the granting of marketing authorizations in violation of patent rights.  The system created by these regulations is far less elaborate than the one set forth by the Hatch-Waxman act in the U.S., as there is no extension/term restoration, and there is no possibility[...]

BY JUAN LUIS SERRANO, PATENT DOCS, 2010 On June 18, 2010, a decree was published in the Federal Official Gazette, reforming several provisions of the Mexican IP law related to patent practice.  The main amendments are the following: a) The industrial application requirement for patentability was modified to include a need to demonstrate the possibility of “practical[...]

BY JUAN LUIS SERRANO The Mexican General Health Law was reformed on June 11, 2009 to include an article 222 bis, which defined biotechnological drugs, and allowed for the approval of “biocomparables.”  The decree came into force on September 8, 2009, and the Ministry of Health had a 180-day period to issue all specific regulations pertaining[...]

POR ROMMY MORALES INTERNATIONAL BRIEFINGS, MANAGING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, SEPTEMBER 2010 Article 19, section VII of the Mexican Industrial Property Law establishes, inter alia, that methods of therapeutic treatment applicable to the human body and to animals shall not be considered as inventions; as a result, such methods are expressly excluded from patentability. However, under Mexican law and[...]

BY GEORGINA FLORES In order to update the means of receiving documentation, the Mexican Patent Office (IMPI) has amended the Rules for filing applications by means of an Act published on March 18 2010 in the Official Gazette. The Act is effective from the following day. Relevant issues in this Act include those referred to in[...]