Judicial Administration Structure for IP Disputes: Mexico

There are three administrative authorities for the protection and defense of intellectual property rights:

1. National Institute of Copyright

Part of the federal government's Secretariat for Culture, with responsibility for applying the Federal Law on Copyright. It has the following functions:

- Registration of works and reservation of rights, including copyrights.

- Arbitration agreements and rulings have the force of res judicata and are therefore not subject to appeal.

- Processing and resolution of proceedings for invalidating and canceling the reservation of rights as well as copyright infringements.

- Processing and resolution of administrative appeals.

2. Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI)

Part of the Ministry of Economy, with responsibility for applying the Law on Industrial Property and with the following functions:

- Issuance and registration of patents, utility models and industrial designs.

- Registration of marks, advertising slogans and trade names. Designation and recognition of well-known and famous marks and appellations of origin.

- Issuance of rulings on proceedings for the invalidation, lapse or cancellation of registered marks as well as industrial property and copyright infringements.

- Processing and settlement of administrative disputes.

3. National Service of Seed Inspection and Certification (SNICS)

Part of the Secretariat for Agriculture and Rural Development, SNICS is the authority responsible for applying the Federal Law on Plant Varieties, with the following functions:

- Issuance of breeder's titles for new plant varieties.

- Issuance of rulings on proceedings for the invalidation and revocation of breeder's titles. It also rules on copyright infringements.

Decisions by these administrative authorities can be reviewed directly by the authorities themselves or by the Specialized Court on Intellectual Property.

Jurisdictional Authorities

1. Federal Tribunal of Administrative Justice, Specialized Court on Intellectual Property (SEPI)

SEPI is part of an autonomous judicial body, the Federal Tribunal of Administrative Justice. SEPI has jurisdiction throughout Mexican territory for administrative intellectual property disputes involving the administrative authorities mentioned above.

In certain special cases, owing to the economic value at issue or special or transcendent aspects of the cases concerned, the Superior Court of the Federal Tribunal of Administrative Justice can intervene to resolve disputes.

2. Circuit Courts

Circuit courts also form part of the federal judicial branch.

There are now 23 such courts specialized in administrative law in the First Circuit. They have jurisdiction for the review of decisions by SEPI as well as the Superior Court of the Federal Tribunal of Administrative Justice.

3. Supreme Court (SCJN)

The country's Supreme Court can rule on intellectual property cases in which the interpretation of a specific constitutional provision is at issue.

There are three types of intellectual property cases:

Administrative Law Cases

Disputes arising from breaches of administrative law have various consequences. For cases involving registered users the penalty may consist of lapse, invalidation or cancellation of their registration. In the case of breaches by third parties who have abused rights recognized or granted, the penalties range from economic sanctions, orders to withdraw goods from circulation, the suspension of services and the closing of establishments.

Civil Law Cases

In cases where infringements harm third parties, damages must be sought through the courts, and specifically the civil law courts under civil law.

In nearly all cases a firm decision must be issued by the administrative authorities or the Federal Tribunal of Administrative Justice before the civil claims can be filed, since the decision will form the central document for the judicial action. Exceptions to this requirement include cases involving the right to a person's own image, in which case a prior administrative decision is not required to initiate civil law proceedings.

Proceedings commence in the lower courts, whose decisions are subject to appeal before a Unitary Federal Civil Court for decisions issued either by a federal judicial body or by a state or local Superior Court.

The decision on appeal can in turn be appealed to a Circuit Court.

It can thus be seen that for civil law cases there are no courts specialized in intellectual property.

Criminal Law Cases

Criminal proceedings are separate in Mexico from civil and administrative proceedings.

The Law on Industrial Property includes provisions on conduct subject to sanction under criminal law.

The Federal Law on Copyright refers to the Federal Penal Code for the punishment of criminal copyright infringements.

The process for criminal law cases begins with legal notice, which must be submitted to the prosecution service of the Attorney General's Office.

Within the Attorney General's Office, a "Unit Specialized in the Investigation of Copyright and Industrial Property Offenses" (UEIDDAPI) is responsible for investigating all offenses related to intellectual property.

If the investigation concludes that a crime has been committed, the Public Prosecutor must bring criminal prosecution before a federal criminal law judge.

If finding sufficient evidence of such a crime, and who may have perpetrated it, the judge declares that proceedings must be initiated.

If the accused has been arrested the proceedings may commenced before another lower court judge, whose decisions may be appealed to the Unitary Federal Criminal Court and, in a second instance, to a collegial court.

There is a specialized authority for the investigation of intellectual property cases under criminal law– the Specialized Unit for the Investigation of Copyright and Industrial Property Offenses (UEIDDAPI). The courts, however, are not specialized.

A publicly accessible database is available for Mexican courts dealing with intellectual property disputes, enabling them to consult doctrine (extracts of judgments laying down general guiding but non-binding principles) and case law (extracts of judgments that are reiterative or that establish a binding principle, prevailing over or superseding another:

- The Federal Tribunal of Administrative Justice has an Internet site with the heading "consulting doctrine and case law" that allows searches with different timeframes, including legislative and ideological changes in society). Searches can be made on a keyword basis
http://sctj.tfja.gob.mx/SCJI/.

- The Federation's judicial branch site allows doctrine and case law from different time periods to be consulted on a keyword basis:
https://sjf.scjn.gob.mx/sjfsist/paginas/tesis.aspx

WIPO Lex – Mexico