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should include the power of attorney, the document assigning rights by the inventor, andthe priority document). 5 After the application is filed, IMPI will do a formal examination,that takes from 18 to 24 months and concludes with the publication of the applicationin the Industrial Property Gazette, and a substantive examination, the purpose of whichis to verify compliance with the patentability requirements and which takes approximately24 months, concluding with the granting or denying of the patent.With respect to the above-mentioned examinations, IMPI may issue one or morerequirements to the applicant, to which the latter must respond to within a term of twomonths (having, in turn, a second two-month extension).Patents have a non-extendible term of 20 years from the date of filing of the application,conditioned on the timely payment 6 of the annual fees for retaining the patent registration.In the case of applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT),there is also a 20-year non-extendible term, but counting from the date of filing of theinternational PCT patent application.Finally, it should be mentioned that upon the expiration of a patent or its lapse for failureto make the annual payments, the patent passes into the public domain.2.2. Utility ModelsUtility models are considered the objects, implements, appliances, or tools that as aresult of a change in their disposition, configuration, structure, or form present a differentfunction with respect to the component parts or advantages with respect to their utility.Their registration grants the right of exclusive use, but it is conditioned on thefollowing fundamental requirements:a) The presence of a utility model according to its legal definition (object, implement,appliance, tool, etc.);b) The model is new;c) The model can have an industrial application.207Industrial PropertyUtility models are also processed before the IMPI and are governed by the same rules thatare applicable to patents. Nevertheless, in the registration process for utility models, theapplication is not published, which shortens the time period to an average of three years.__________5The priority document can be presented within a term of three months from the filing date. This documentconsists of a certified copy of the first deposit made before the national patent office of a country that is amember of the Paris Convention. In this respect, Mexico is a contracting party of the Paris Convention andof the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), and therefore there is a recognition of the priority date and the internationalPCT deposit date when it designates Mexico.6With respect to the payment of the annual fees, the LPI establishes a grace period of six months, after whichif they are not paid the patent will lapse.