MEXICO Law and Practice Contributed by: Heidi Lindner and Humberto Vega, Arochi & Lindner
Proceedings before ordinary courts When the proceedings for damages and the infringe ‑ ment action are brought together before an ordinary federal court, the period to file an appeal against the resolution of the first instance is eight business days. Once the appeal is admitted, the sentence is usually handed down on average within six months. It is important to note that, as with the review appeal and the contentious trial, the appeal before the ordi ‑ nary courts only examines errors of appreciation and procedural flaws that occurred during the adminis ‑ trative procedure. It can be concluded that in these appeals, the matters are not re-examined from scratch (de novo). Lifting of Preliminary Injunctions In Mexico, when a preliminary injunction is revoked by a court decision, it is automatically lifted. This means that it is not necessary to carry out an additional pro ‑ cedure for the injunction to cease to have effect. How ‑ ever, if the measure involves the securing of a product, the corresponding authority must physically go to the facilities of the alleged infringer to remove the seals or security strips. This procedure requires direct action by the authority. If the patent underlying the action is declared invalid, it is necessary to submit a specific request for the preliminary injunctions to be lifted. The measure is not considered lifted until said request is favourably resolved. As with product securing, it may take up to 29 days between the filing of the request to lift the measure and the issuance of the respective official writ by the authority. 7.2 Appeal Court(s) Arbiter Appeals against decisions made by the IMPI can be addressed in two ways: • they can be reviewed by the IMPI itself, where the appeal is considered by a higher-ranking official than the one who issued the initial decision; or • they can be reviewed in a contentious trial filed before the SEPI. It is important to note that the appeal resolution issued by the IMPI can be challenged through a contentious
trial, where the appellant will have the possibility of directly challenging the validity of the original con ‑ tested resolution, posting new arguments to those initially raised in their review appeal. An important matter to consider, applicable to all types of litigation and not only those involving life sci ‑ ences or pharmaceutical patents, is that the ruling handed down in the contentious administrative trial by the SEPI can be challenged through an Amparo trial, wherein the matter will not be analysed de novo; instead, only the illegalities or flaws that may have occurred within the administrative contentious trial will be examined. This is considered a third and final instance. Appeals filed against the resolutions issued by ordi ‑ nary courts in matters of compensation for violation of industrial property rights are heard by other ordinary courts that are not specialised in intellectual property matters. 7.3 Special Provisions Beyond the mechanisms previously discussed, no additional specific procedural rules or guidance pro ‑ visions need to be considered for IP claims. 8. Other Relevant Forums/Procedures 8.1 The UPC or Other Forums In Mexico, outside of the IMPI and the ordinary courts, there is no other forum where litigation and actions regarding patents or life sciences can be heard. Even border measures applied by the Mexican customs authorities are ordered by the IMPI at the request for preliminary injunctions, under the conditions and terms described (see 5.1 Preliminary Injunctive Relief ). 9. Alternative Dispute Resolution 9.1 ADR Options Despite the introduction of conciliation in Mexico’s LFPPI in 2020, it is important to note that this mecha ‑ nism is limited explicitly to infringement actions.
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