In 2020, a judicial opinion was established in Mexico that decided that trademark registrations of a certain age should no longer be annulled, even if they were granted illegally due to an error of appreciation or inadvertence on the part of the trademark office examiner, under the argument of "respecting the legal security of trademark registration holders". This caused major companies to lose the legal battle in their attempt to prevent third parties in bad faith from appropriating their trademarks, as was the case in the much talked-about F1 case.
The prevailing criterion generated tremendous legal uncertainty and kept the guild and the business sector in check, as it prevented the invalidation of many registered trademarks due to a procedural flaw, even affecting the right to exclusive use of the legitimate owners.
Our colleagues at Regalado & Galindo led the defence in favour of the imprescriptibility of these actions, whose appeal for relief was taken by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, the highest judicial authority in the country, which in plenary session favourably fixed a definitive criterion this February 2024, resolving that the nullity against an illegally granted trademark registration can be exercised at any time, since the mere passage of time cannot remedy the illegality of its granting.
Transcendental for those with businesses in Mexico that require confidence and certainty in the protection of their intellectual property.