In addition to other legal requirements, Mexican Industrial Property Law (Ley de Propiedad Industrial) provides that a necessaryrequirement for obtaining a patent on a new invention is that such invention be considered “novel” and something that is not known in the“state of the industry or art,” which is defined as technical knowledge “together with other technical information that has been made publicthrough oral or written descriptions, or by any other means of communication or information in Mexico or abroad”. Keep in mind that thenovelty requirement is mandatory, making it important for any inventor to be careful to protect information related to their invention andpatent registration applications. An applicant who fails to do so risks having such invention treated as not novel and having theirapplication rejected. One exception to the above may be found in Article 18 of the Industrial Property Law, which establishes the exceptionfor previously disseminated information, such as information released at a technical exposition or fair, so long as such occurs within twelvemonths prior to the filing of an application for patent registration.
