The trademark registration certificate (título de registro) is the document by which the IMPI, Mexico's trademark office, grants you the mark: it confirms the mark is yours in the class and for the goods or services listed on it. Under Article 178 of the Federal Law for the Protection of Industrial Property, the registration lasts 10 years from the grant date printed on the certificate, and it is renewable for equal periods. That same date sets when you must file the declaration of use, so the certificate doesn't close the process: it is the calendar for the next ten years.
What the certificate is and what it isn't
During the process you collect several papers, and it's easy to mix them up. The acknowledgment you receive when you file only proves that you filed: it carries a file number and a filing date, but it doesn't give you the mark. The official letters that arrive afterward are requirements or examination notices. The certificate is something else: it is the final decision that grants the registration and assigns it a registration number, different from the file number.
That difference matters because many people use the ® symbol from the day they file. The law only allows the wording "Marca Registrada" (registered trademark), its abbreviation MR, or the ® symbol once the mark is actually registered, meaning once you hold the certificate. Until then, the right move is to use no registration notice at all.
When the certificate arrives
The IMPI issues the certificate once the application passes two reviews: the formal examination, which checks that the form is complete, and the substantive examination, which compares your mark against existing ones. The timing depends on the IMPI's workload and on whether there are objections.
Three things stretch that timeline: a requirement notice over a form error, a provisional refusal because the examiner found a similar mark, and an opposition filed by a third party during the month in which the application is published in the IMPI's Gazette. The detail of each stage is in how long trademark registration takes.
How you receive it and how to download it
If you filed online, the IMPI serves the certificate electronically and you download it from the platform where you track your file. That PDF is the original document.
- Check your file every week while the process is open, so you don't miss a single notice or the certificate itself.
- When the certificate appears, download it and save it with a name that includes the registration number and the grant date.
- Make a backup outside your email: a shared company folder or a separate drive.
- Confirm the status in Marcanet, the IMPI's public search tool, where your mark should now show as registered.
If a third party handled the process for you, ask for the certificate PDF, not just a screenshot. It is the document you will be asked for to renew, to grant a license, to sell the mark or to take action against anyone using it without permission.
The details to check the day it arrives
| Detail | What to check | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Registration number | That it exists and is not the file number | It is the one cited in renewals, licenses and claims |
| Owner | Exact name or company name | The mark belongs to whoever appears here, not to whoever paid |
| Mark | The word or design exactly as you applied for it | Only what appears on the certificate is protected |
| Class | The correct Nice class number | Outside that class the mark is not protected |
| Goods or services | The complete list, with nothing trimmed | It defines the real scope of your protection |
| Grant date | That it is there and legible | The declaration of use and the term both run from this date |
The owner is the detail that causes the most surprises. If the mark ended up in the name of the designer, a partner or an individual when it should belong to the company, legally it belongs to that person. Fixing it later requires a transfer of rights recorded with the IMPI, which is another procedure and another fee.
The deadlines that start running with the certificate
Under the law in force since November 2020, the key date is the grant date, not the filing date. Everything is calculated from there:
| Obligation | When | If you miss it |
|---|---|---|
| Declaration of use | Shortly after the third anniversary of the grant | The registration lapses |
| Renewal | Near the tenth anniversary of the grant | The mark expires and becomes available to others |
| Actual use | Continuously, on the goods or services in the certificate | A third party can request cancellation for non-use |
The declaration of use is the one that costs the most marks, because it comes three years later, when nobody remembers the process. How to prepare it is in declaration of use of a trademark with the IMPI, and what happens when the ten years are up is in trademark renewal with the IMPI. The same day you download the certificate, set both reminders.
What you can do with the certificate in hand
- Use the ® symbol or the "Marca Registrada" notice on your products, packaging and website.
- Grant use licenses to third parties, for example to a distributor or a franchise, and record them with the IMPI.
- Sell or assign the mark, with the transfer recorded so it takes effect against third parties.
- Ask marketplaces and social networks to take down listings that use your mark without permission; they usually ask for the registration number.
- Start actions before the IMPI against anyone using an identical or similar mark in your class.
What the certificate doesn't do: it doesn't protect your mark in other classes or in other countries. If you plan to sell outside Mexico or expand your line of business, each case needs its own registration.
If the certificate has an error
Compare the certificate against your application point by point. If the error is the IMPI's, such as a wrong letter in the owner's name or a service that is missing, request the correction immediately and keep the receipt. If the error comes from what was entered in the application, the correction may not be granted, because the IMPI doesn't expand or substantively change what it has already examined. In that case what applies is a different procedure and, in the worst case, a new application.
At Elevalia
With our trademark registration service we run the phonetic prior search, define the class, file the application and stay with you through every IMPI requirement until the decision. When your certificate arrives, use the table above to review it and schedule your deadlines. The service starts at $7,990 MXN; the IMPI's official fees are paid separately.