Mexican IP – Advancement in Proposed Agreement on Anti-Piracy Trade Practices

Since the end of 2007, Mexico has participated in various meetings with other countries including the United States ofAmerica, Canada, Japan, countries within the European Union, Switzerland and New Zealand in order to reach aninternational agreement to combat the production and sale of counterfeit and pirated goods known as the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement or ACTA, by its initials in English. After six rounds of negotiations, the parties agreed thata seventh session will take place this month in Mexico, in order to discuss issues such as digital commerce, border issuesand observance of civil legal standards. The ACTA seeks to increase international cooperation, establish best practices andprovide a legal framework for better and more effective combating of the production and sale of counterfeit and piratedgoods. With its efforts, Mexico reinforces its commitment to protect intellectual property rights, which benefits both foreigninvestors and domestic consumers of goods and services. Other forums in which Mexico has actively participated in orderto promote the protection of international intellectual property rights include the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC) group, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the World Trade Organization (WTO), theOrganization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) and the Alliance for the Security and Prosperity of NorthAmerica (ASPAN).