Mexico City, June 19, 2024.
On June 5, 2024, the Plenary of the National Institute for Transparency, Access to Information, and Personal Data Protection (“INAI”) resolved to modify the response of the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (“IMPI”) regarding an individual’s request to exercise the right of opposition. The INAI instructed the IMPI to effectively guarantee the right of opposition and eliminate, within the MARcia platform, all personal data related to the “private address” of the trademark holder.
The right of Opposition (one of the “ARCO” rights—Access, Rectification, Cancellation, Opposition) under Article 52 of the General Law on the Protection of Personal Data Held by Obligated Subjects (“LGPDPPSO”) allows any person to request that the relevant authority cease using their personal data for a specific purpose, especially when such use could cause harm or detriment.
Although Article 55 of the LGPDPPSO establishes limits on the exercise of ARCO rights, in this case, those limits were not applicable. The IMPI, in the aforementioned precedent, denied the exercise of the right without providing proper justification. Consequently, the data subject appealed to the Data Protection Authority, the INAI.
In its resolution, the INAI considered that while the IMPI must process certain applicant data when receiving a trademark registration request, the purpose of using such data is solely for processing the application. There is no connection between using this data and publishing it on the MARcia system. The primary objective of MARcia is to publish “information about trademarks, including applications, registrations, or publications of distinctive signs.” This allows any user to check if their trademark is similar to or matches another pending or registered trademark in Mexico.
Therefore, publishing the “private address” of a trademark applicant is unnecessary, unjustified, and disproportionate to achieving MARcia’s purpose. Contrary to the IMPI’s stance, the “private address” is indeed personal data that identifies or can identify the data subject, and its dissemination could cause harm. Moreover, such publication may infringe the principle of purpose limitation.
The INAI’s resolution sets an important precedent regarding the relevance of personal data protection rights (the so-called “ARCO” rights) as a mechanism for data subjects to control their personal information, safeguard their identity and security, and protect related rights.
The area of information technology and data protection of our firm is at your service.
SINCERELY:
Adolfo Athié Cervantes
aathie@basham.com.mx
Renata Denisse Buerón Valenzuela
rbueron@basham.com.mx
Erika Itzel Rodríguez Kushelevich
erodriguez@basham.com.mx
Ivan Garcia Argueta
igarcia@basham.com.mx
