LatAm

On July 1st, 2020, a new Federal Law for the Protection of Industrial Property (Ley Federal de Protección a la Propiedad Industrial) (the New IP Law) was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation, repealing the former Industrial Property Law of the year 1991. Additionally, on that same date, the Federal Copyrights Law (Ley Federal del Derecho de Autor in Spanish, the Copyrights Law) was also amended in some material aspects. The enactment of the New IP Law and the amendment to the Copyrights Law were approved to harmonize and adapt the Mexican legal intellectual property framework to the obligations undertaken by Mexico under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) which came into effect on such date.

Law Nº 21,210 (the Tax Modernization Law) amended Decree-Law Nº 825 (the VAT Law), introducing a new set of services rendered by non-resident non-domiciled providers, among VAT taxable events.

Given the current situation with the global pandemic of COVID-19, the number of health professionals who offer their services through different types of applications and remote means of communication has increased, which could involve the collection, storage and use of patient’s personal data. 

On May 15, the Ministry of Energy of Mexico (SENER) published in the evening edition of the Official Gazette of the Federation an executive order issuing the new Policy towards the Reliability, Safety, Continuity and Quality of the National Electric System (the Policy), substituting the reliability policy issued on February 2017.

The Ministry of Health published in the Federal Official Gazette a resolution implementing the decision of the General Health Council that classifies as “essential” construction related activities. (the “Resolution”).

Under the argument that the Covid19 outbreak has resulted in the reduction of electric energy consumption by end users in Mexico and, therefore, the reliability of power supply should be strengthened, the National Center for Energy Control (CENACE) issued a ruling in connection with the Market Information System on May 1 dated April 29, pursuant to which it decrees the technical measures to be followed to guarantee the efficiency, quality, reliability, continuity and security of the National Electric System (SEN). In the face of these actions, companies can consider some legal actions.

Based on the argument that the pandemic has cause a reduction of electricity consumption by end users and thus additional measures have to be taken in order to guarantee the efficiency, quality, reliability, continuity and safety of the National Electricity System, on May 1, a ruling dated April 29 was published in the Market Information System, wherein the National Center for Energy Control (CENACE) decrees certain technical measures to be observed.