It may be recalled that the Mexican Patent Law of 1991 provided for protection for plants and that this possibility was terminated by the amendments in 1994. Mexico has now adopted a specific plant variety law which came into effect on October 26, 1996.

For protection under the new law there must have been no marketing of the plant variety in Mexico for more than one year prior to the date of requesting protection and no marketing anywhere in the world more than four years prior to that date for non-perennial varieties or six years for perennial varieties. The new variety must be "clearly and technically distinguishable" from prior varieties and must be stable after repeated propagation. In addition to these requirements the applicant must provide a name for the plant variety which is different from names known in Mexico or abroad. Once granted, protection lasts for 18 years for perennial varieties or 15 years for non-perennial varieties.