Your U.S. Counterpart for Mexican Clients
Su contraparte en Estados Unidos para sus clientes mexicanos.
Mexican applicants file more U.S. trademark applications than applicants from any other Latin American country. We act as U.S. attorney of record for clients of Mexican firms, answer USPTO refusals of Madrid designations filed through IMPI, and report to you in Spanish.
Trademark activity in Mexico and at the USPTO
IMPI recorded 214,894 trademark class counts in 2024, up 34% from 2019. Mexican owners filed 11,007 U.S. applications from 2021 to 2025, 2% of them through Madrid.
Trademark filings at IMPI
Class count in applications filed at IMPI, direct and via Madrid, by applicant residence.
View data table
| Year | Total | Resident | Non-resident |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 160,191 | 112,970 | 47,221 |
| 2020 | 162,535 | 118,329 | 44,206 |
| 2021 | 199,334 | 142,012 | 57,322 |
| 2022 | 194,481 | 137,882 | 56,599 |
| 2023 | 205,746 | 152,891 | 52,855 |
| 2024 | 214,894 | 159,140 | 55,754 |
U.S. applications filed by Mexican owners
USPTO applications per filing year from owners with an address in Mexico. The 2026 bar covers January through September.
View data table
| Filing year | Filed | Registered to date | Via Madrid |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2,165 | 1,255 | 75 |
| 2022 | 2,104 | 1,255 | 54 |
| 2023 | 2,318 | 1,262 | 46 |
| 2024 | 2,442 | 1,300 | 44 |
| 2025 | 1,978 | 712 | 41 |
| 2026 (Jan.–Sept.) | 1,375 | 98 | 29 |
Madrid traffic between Mexico and the U.S.
Designations recorded by WIPO each year: Mexican holders designating the United States, and U.S. holders designating Mexico.
From 2020 to 2025, U.S. holders designated Mexico about 71 times as often as Mexican holders designated the United States.
View data table
| Year | U.S. designated by Mexican holders | Mexico designated by U.S. holders | All designations of Mexico | International applications filed through IMPI | Provisional refusals issued by IMPI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 18 | 3,543 | 12,402 | 28 | 2,883 |
| 2021 | 97 | 4,772 | 14,741 | 149 | 3,484 |
| 2022 | 64 | 4,533 | 14,248 | 98 | 5,675 |
| 2023 | 55 | 3,965 | 13,177 | 91 | 2,384 |
| 2024 | 60 | 4,131 | 13,795 | 119 | 3,553 |
| 2025 | 59 | 3,979 | 14,266 | 111 | 3,029 |
Madrid designations received by IMPI
All designations of Mexico in international applications and subsequent designations, from every origin.
In 2025, U.S. holders made 28% of the 14,266 designations of Mexico. IMPI issued 3,029 provisional refusals that year.
How we counted. National-office figures are class counts (applications multiplied by the classes they name) from the WIPO IP Statistics Data Center, May 2026 update, covering direct and Madrid filings. Madrid figures are WIPO counts by date of receipt at the International Bureau through 2025. USPTO figures count applications by filing date where an owner's address is in Mexico, from USPTO records retrieved October 27, 2026.
The U.S.-attorney rule for Mexican clients
Since August 3, 2019, every applicant or registrant domiciled in Mexico must be represented before the USPTO by an attorney licensed in a U.S. state. That includes responses to provisional refusals of designations made through IMPI, oppositions and cancellations before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, and post-registration filings.
A Mexican firm cannot appear at the USPTO for its client. We become the attorney of record and the correspondence address, and we work under your instructions.
What this means for your firm
- You keep the client relationship and the strategy
- We are attorney of record and correspondence address at the USPTO
- Every USPTO notice comes to you with our recommendation
- We send U.S.-originated work in Mexico back to you
What we handle for your Mexican clients
The full U.S. life of a mark, from the first filing to enforcement, under your instructions.
Direct U.S. filings
Use, intent-to-use, Section 44(e) home-registration, and Section 44(d) priority applications.
Madrid refusals
Responses to USPTO provisional refusals of designations of the United States.
Office actions
Arguments and amendments on likelihood of confusion, descriptiveness, specimens, and identification.
TTAB matters
Oppositions, cancellations, ex parte appeals, letters of protest, and expungement or reexamination petitions.
Maintenance
Section 8 and Section 71 declarations, Section 15 affidavits, Section 9 renewals, and docketing every U.S. deadline.
Recordals
Assignments, mergers, and name changes recorded with the USPTO Assignment Recordation Branch.
Enforcement
Cease-and-desist letters, U.S. Customs recordation, Amazon Brand Registry, and coordination with litigation counsel.
Built for the instructing firm
- Conflict checkWe clear conflicts before any substantive work, usually within one business day.
- Associate agreementA short written agreement sets reporting, billing, and client-contact rules.
- InstructionsBy email, in Spanish or English. We confirm receipt and the deadline the same day.
- ReportingWe report to your firm, not to your client, unless you ask us to copy the client.
- FeesFixed fees for standard actions, invoiced in U.S. dollars with wire instructions; government fees at cost.
Where U.S. filings from Mexico go wrong
The issues we see most often in U.S. matters sent by Mexican firms, and how we deal with each.
Madrid designations with IMPI wording
A Madrid application filed through IMPI carries the specification as written for IMPI. The USPTO often finds it indefinite or too broad for the class and issues a provisional refusal.
We review the U.S. wording before the international application is filed, or answer the refusal with an amendment.
Narrow basic filings
If the IMPI application or registration is narrow, the U.S. designation cannot be broader. Clients sometimes need U.S. coverage that the IMPI filing does not support.
We recommend a direct U.S. filing when the client needs different or broader U.S. coverage.
Tequila, mezcal, and place names
Tequila and mezcal are protected names in the U.S., and Mexican place names are often refused as geographically descriptive or misdescriptive.
We build the U.S. application around the client's distinctive brand, with disclaimers where needed.
Distributor filings
U.S. importers and distributors of Mexican products often file the brand in their own names. The Mexican owner may then need a cancellation or a negotiated assignment.
We search for distributor filings before the client appoints a U.S. distributor.
No proof of U.S. use at years 5 to 6
Section 71 declarations for Madrid registrations require use in U.S. commerce. Brands that never launched in the U.S. lose the registration.
We docket the declaration and request U.S. invoices and labels early.
Work flows both ways
U.S. holders designated Mexico in about 4,000 Madrid filings a year from 2021 to 2025, and IMPI issued between about 2,400 and 5,700 provisional refusals a year. When our U.S. clients need Mexican prosecution, opposition, or enforcement work, we send it to Mexican counsel, starting with the firms that send us U.S. work.
We do not practice Mexican law. When a U.S. client needs protection in Mexico, the matter goes to Mexican counsel, and we report the result to our client.
What to send with an instruction
- Client name, entity type, and country of organization
- Full address of domicile (street address, not a P.O. box)
- The mark as filed at home, with any color claim and translation
- Home filing or registration number and date (for priority or Section 44(e))
- Goods and services, ideally already in U.S. ID Manual wording
- U.S. use dates and a specimen, if the client already sells in the U.S.
- For Madrid refusals: the WIPO notification and the USPTO refusal
- The response or filing deadline you are working to
Frequently asked questions
Do you handle USPTO refusals of designations filed through IMPI?
Yes. We review the provisional refusal, recommend a response, and file it as U.S. attorney of record. Refusals of Madrid designations carry a six-month response period, which was not shortened when the USPTO moved other applications to three months in 2022.
Can you report to us in Spanish?
Yes. Our attorneys work in Spanish and English, and we report to the instructing firm in the language it prefers.
How are your fees structured for associate work?
Standard actions, such as a new application, a response to a routine refusal, or a Section 71 declaration, carry fixed professional fees, listed in our associate fee schedule. Contested work is billed by the hour or on a quoted budget. Government fees are passed through at cost, and invoices are in U.S. dollars.
How quickly do you act on an instruction?
We confirm receipt and the deadline the same business day and clear conflicts before substantive work. For urgent deadlines, tell us the date in your first email.
Should our client use Madrid or a direct U.S. filing?
Madrid is efficient when several countries are needed and the IMPI filing is secure. A direct U.S. filing is better when the U.S. is the priority market, the client needs different wording, or the IMPI filing faces an opposition.
Will you contact our client directly?
No, unless you ask us to. We report to you and copy the client only on your instruction.
Request our associate fee schedule
Our schedule lists fixed fees for the U.S. actions Mexican firms send most often, with our instruction checklist and a short guide to the most common USPTO refusals of filings from abroad.
- Direct USPTO applications
- Madrid provisional refusals
- TTAB oppositions and cancellations
- Section 8 and Section 71 declarations