Mexico remains on the US “watch list” on intellectual property


Mexico remains on the “Watch List” of the United States Trade Representation (USTR) in its 2022 Special 301 Report on the State of Intellectual Property (IP) Protections.

Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Romania were removed from that list, which evaluates the US economy’s trading partners each year.

As part of its intellectual property commitments under the Treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada (USMCA), Mexico undertook important legislative reforms, with changes to its Copyright Law and Penal Code and the approval of a new Industrial Property Law.

These reforms included improvements to the /img/2018/05/03/pirateria_jpg.jpg laws that address protection against circumvention of technological protection measures and rights management information, the liability of Internet service providers, the theft of cable and satellite signals and the penalties for aiding or abetting these activities, unauthorized video recording of films, and transparency regarding new geographical indications (GIs).

But the USTR noted that the United States continues to monitor Mexico’s actions to address long-standing concerns, including with respect to anti-counterfeiting and anti-piracy enforcement, pharmaceutical-related intellectual property protection, statutory damages for copyright infringement and trademark counterfeiting, and the application of intellectual property rights in the digital environment.

According to the USTR, Mexico continues to operate with reduced resources for numerous government agencies.

Failure to provide sufficient resources for intellectual property protection and failure to prioritize IP enforcement continue to hamper Mexico’s efforts to improve the IP environment,” the USTR said in its report.

To combat the rising levels of intellectual property infringement in Mexico, the United States encourages Mexico to increase enforcement funding, including for the specialized intellectual property unit within the Attorney General’s office, improve coordination between federal officials and subfederal authorities, initiate more processes related to intellectual property, and impose dissuasive-level sanctions against offenders.

The USTR stated that piracy and counterfeit products remain widespread in Mexico, adding that as broadband access increases, online piracy has been on the rise.

The prevalence of counterfeit products in notorious physical markets also remains “a significant problem”, exacerbated by the involvement of transnational criminal organizations.

Regarding the enforcement of intellectual property at the border, the National Customs Agency (ANAM) initiated 493 cases, up from 642 cases in 2020, with seizures totaling 4.23 million items in 2021, up from 8.82 million in 2020.

In turn, Mexico’s initiative to redistribute approximately three million assets seized through welfare markets under the program Wellness Market has raised concerns regarding transparency and possible falsification.

United States trademark owners continue to address current issues related to bad faith trademark registrations.

With respect to Geographical Indications (GIs), the USTR indicated, Mexico must guarantee that any protection of geographical indications, including those negotiated through free trade agreements, is only granted after a fair and transparent examination and opposition process. .

“The United States remains deeply concerned about countries negotiating product-specific intellectual property outcomes as a condition for access to the European Union market and reiterates the importance that each individual intellectual property right be independently evaluated on its individual merits. ”, the USTR said.

roberto.morales@eleconomista.mx



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