Mexico’s Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) has updated its practice guidance for industrial designs filed through the Hague System, with a useful clarification on the country’s 12-month novelty grace period. Applicants who disclosed a design before filing, for example at an international exhibition or product launch, should not assume that the grace period will be applied automatically. Where protection is sought in Mexico, supporting evidence must be submitted in the required form when filing the Hague international application or within the relevant period after the Mexican designation enters IMPI examination.
The message is practical rather than theoretical: evidence management now matters earlier. Exhibition certificates, dates of disclosure, copies of the displayed design, links between the disclosed design and the Hague reproductions, and proof of entitlement should be gathered before the application is filed. If the applicant does not explain and document the prior disclosure in time, IMPI may treat that disclosure as novelty-destroying prior art. For companies using the Hague System as a streamlined design filing route, the Mexican update is a reminder that centralised filing does not remove local evidence requirements.
