The new Law includes Complementary Certificates, Certificates which were not included in the previous Law. According to the sixth provisional article, these certificates will not be available for applications filed under the current Industrial Property Law.
The certificates are expected to include the same patent numbers, however refer to a new Letters Patent including the modification of the expiration date, as the application numbers are requested in the request for the certificate.
As stated above, according to the sixth provisional article of the new Law, only applications filed on and after November 5, 2020 will be subject to these certificates. All preexisting applications and patents will not be subject to the certificates.
All patents are eligible for the certificate as long as prosecution took more than 5 years. There are some exceptions to this rule.
We assume that the application and grant numbers will remain the same, however the Letters Patent will be reissued once the certificate is approved, including the extension date. Furthermore all patents including certificates, or the certificates per se, will be published in the Gazette.
An unreasonable delay needs to be established in the request for the certificate. Reasonable delays are considered the time from the filing date to the favorable administrative requirements resolution, periods of times or omissions caused by applicant, periods for which the MXPTO is not accountable and periods of force majeure. The day count corresponding to the unreasonable delay, is translated as an additional day for each two days of unreasonable delay. Again, this information should be available in the re-published Letters Patent and the Gazette.
Grant fees (still not specified) will need to be paid upon the allowance of the certificate. The grant fees must be paid within a month of the allowance for the certificate. It is necessary to point out that the certificate will need to be requested when the application is allowed and it seems before the patent is granted, otherwise applicant will no longer be able to request the certificate. It is still unclear whether annuities will need to be paid while this certificate is in force.
We are at your service should you have any questions.