Designation of the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) as an International Searching and Preliminary Examining Authority of Patents 

July 20, 2026

During the working sessions of the Assemblies of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Assembly of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Union approved the designation of the IMPI as an International Searching and Preliminary Examining Authority (ISA/IPEA) by consensus of the member states.

As a result of this designation, international patent applicants from PCT member states will be able to select the IMPI as one of the international authorities to conduct international searches and international preliminary examinations of applications filed through the PCT system and accredited by the WIPO.

To secure this designation, the WIPO required the Institute to comply with its established technical, operational, and quality standards. To this end, the IMPI had to demonstrate the development of strategic plans, reinforce its technical capabilities, and hire and train specialized examiner staff.

With this important designation, the IMPI becomes the twenty-sixth International Searching and Preliminary Examining Authority of the PCT system, and the fourth to perform these functions in Spanish, including the offices of Spain, Chile, and Brazil.

This appointment received statements of support from intellectual property offices in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as from those in Spain, Korea, Canada, France, China, India, Ukraine, Egypt, and Australia.