By José Alberto Mérida | Industrial Property Specialist

The statement of use is one of the most relevant requirements to preserve trademark rights in Mexico since the 2018 reform and under the current Federal Law for the Protection of Industrial Property (LFPPI, 2020). Its purpose is to purge the register and avoid the persistence of trademarks that are not actually used in the Mexican market.

Below are the main modalities, deadlines, and differences between national and international registrations, as well as the consequences of non-compliance

1. Statement of use for national trademarks

Legal Basis

• Articles 233, 237 LFPPI: obligation to declare the actual and effective use of the trademark. 

Initial deadline (3 years) 

The owner of a Mexican trademark registration must file a statement of actual and effective use within three months after the expiration of three years counted from the grant date of the registration. 

Failing to submit SoU results in the automatic lapse of the registration. The registration automatically lapses for all products or services without the need for a ruling from IMPI. There is no formal declaration issued. It is a consequence of the inactivity of the owner of the affected trademark. 

Renewals (every 10 years)

Upon each renewal (every ten years), a new statement of use must be filed covering only those goods or services that are effectively used in Mexico. 

• Any goods/services not declared are deleted from the registration.

2. Statement of use for international registrations (Madrid System) 

Legal basis 

• Article 233, 237 LFPPI and the Madrid Protocol. 

• IMPI rules as Designated Office. 

Initial deadline (3 years from protection in Mexico) 

The owner of an international registration designating Mexico must file a statement of use before IMPI within the same timeframe as national marks: within three months after the expiration of three years counted from the date on which IMPI grants protection in Mexico. 

Renewals 

The international renewal is processed directly before WIPO every ten years. 

• However, in order to maintain protection in Mexico, the holder must also file a statement of use before IMPI after each renewal. 

• The deadline starts from the date on which IMPI records in its system the notification of renewal received from WIPO. 

• From that recording date, the three-month period begins to run. 

Goods or services not declared as in use are deleted from protection in Mexico, even if they remain listed in the central international registration at WIPO. 

3. Key differences 

4. Conclusion 

Mexico requires trademark owners to prove effective use of their marks, both for national and international registrations. 

• For national marks, the control is exercised by IMPI directly at the three-year mark and at each ten-year renewal. 

• For international registrations, although renewals are centralized at WIPO, continued protection in Mexico depends on compliance with the statement of use before IMPI and not before WIPO. 

The most important precision: in international designations, the deadlines for filing the statement of use in Mexico run from the date on which IMPI records in its system the WIPO notification, whether it relates to the initial grant or to a subsequent renewal. 

This mechanism ensures that the Mexican register reflects only those marks that genuinely operate in the national market. 

Please contact us for further details; we will be pleased to provide you with professional advice.