Mexico: Traditional cultural expressions and traditional knowledge

Managing IP is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Gardens, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Mexico: Traditional cultural expressions and traditional knowledge

mexico-traditional-knowledge-min-final.jpg

About a year ago, news about the copying of a design belonging to the indigenous community of Santa Maria Tlahuitoltepec ("Mixes community"), in the State of Oaxaca, Mexico, by Isabel Marant (a famous fashion designer) caused great controversy in social media.

According to the news, Isabel Marant copied the designs of the blouses and was trying to obtain protection over those designs to prevent the Mexican community from "manufacturing and commercializing" the blouses with those designs. Then, Marant clarified that the designs come from the Mixes community and denied that she was trying to obtain protection over them.

This case of the alleged plagiarism of the traditional designs of the Mixes community is just the tip of the iceberg, as there are other cultural expressions such as traditional medicine, regional dance, intangible heritage, the native languages and a variety of traditional cultural expressions that are being exploited by third parties without restrictions.

Mexican Law does not provide adequate protection for traditional cultural expressions (TCE) and traditional knowledge (TK) of communities. The Copyright Law protects "popular culture", providing:

Literary or artistic works, works of popular art or craft works that have evolved and are perpetuated in a community or ethnic group with its origins or roots in the Mexican Republic shall be protected against distortion intended to discredit such works or prejudice the reputation or image of the community or ethnic group to which they belong.

It also mentions that the use of those works shall be free, provided that they are not deformed, intended to discredit the works or prejudice the reputation or image of the community. Moreover, it provides that "in any fixation, representation, publication, communication or use in any way of those works, the community or ethnic group or the region of the Mexican Republic to which it is specific shall be mentioned".

Therefore, our legal framework should provide mechanisms for achieving protection for all the TCEs and TK. In order to reach our goal, there are at least three issues that should be addressed: (1) to define or catalogue the TCEs, TK and intangible heritage of the indigenous communities; (2) to recognise the indigenous communities as subjects of public law, which allows them to enjoy collective legal personality to carry out legal acts (there are few federal laws that have recognised these communities as subjects of law); and (3) to adopt sui generis laws to protect the specific TCEs and TK once they are catalogued or at least, to amend the Copyright Law to include all the TCEs and TK of the Mexican indigenous communities.

celis.jpg

Martha Célis


Olivares

Pedro Luis Ogazón No 17

Col San Angel

01000 México DF

Tel: +5255 53 22 30 00

Fax: +5255 53 22 30 01

olivlaw@olivares.com.mx

www.olivares.com.mx

more from across site and SHARED ros bottom lb

More from across our site

News of an alliance between two Malaysian law firms and the launch of a self-help video aimed at supporting IP professionals through menopause were also among the top talking points
Speakers at the EUIPO’s IP Mediation Conference discussed how lawyers can act in tandem with clients during mediation, and the importance of showing a united front
A report that revealed top legal LinkedIn influencers are generating hundreds of thousands in advertising value is the push lawyers need to up their social media presence
Speakers at the EUIPO’s Mediation Conference say mediation can offer a ‘cathartic’ and effective alternative to litigation that IP owners should consider
Partner Scott Sudderth says he is looking forward to building strong client relationships and expanding the firm’s patent practice
Find out which firms secured the most nominations for Managing IP’s Asia-Pacific Awards 2025, ahead of the winners being revealed on November 6
Raluca Vasilescu joins our ‘Five minutes with’ series to discuss patent mining and watercolour painting
Jan Phillip Rektorschek, founding partner at Pentarc in Germany, explains why the firm broke away from Taylor Wessing and discusses its plans for staying competitive
Royal Mail Group wins copyright and database right infringement case, in a dispute that can be linked to the history of postcodes in the UK
Managing partner Mark O’Donnell explains why people are at the centre of the Australian outfit’s investment focus and how being independent benefits the firm
Gift this article