On March 24, 2009 the Second Chamber of Mexico’s Supreme Court of Justice (Suprema Corte de La Nación or SCJN) approved case number 2a./J.41/2010 under the heading “Trademarks. When proposed in a mixed form (name, design and three-dimensional form) and such latter form is not subject to registration by individuals, such circumstance impedes the registration of trademarks.” In its decision, the SCJN held that a consistent interpretation of Mexico’s Industrial Property Law and Regulations means that a party interested in registering a trademark has the right to elect the type of mark for which he or she seeks protection of their products, whether such is a name, unnamed, three-dimensional or mixed, with the court stating that in cases where the interested party desires to register a mixed trademark, the three-dimensional element must be examined separately from the other remaining elements of the mark so that the trademark authorities may, in their judgment, determine that three-dimensional form trademarks may not be registered by individuals, which would mean that individuals could not register a mixed trademark that includes a three-dimensional form. Please note that this case decision has yet to be published in the Judicial Weekly of the Federation.
