ECIJA

Intellectual Property and TMT

Mike Margáin is a partner in the areas of Intellectual Property and Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT) at ECIJA Mexico.

He has over 30 years of experience in intellectual property and innovation protection and exploitation issues at the national and international levels. He has outstanding specialization in the technology and entertainment sector (TMT), both in the private and public sectors. Margáin has been recognized as one of the best intellectual property lawyers in the Latin American region and as one of the most influential professionals in Latin America and the Pacific Rim. For this reason, he is highlighted in the Latin Lawyer 250 guide to the most influential lawyers in Latin America.

In the private sector, he served as the president (2009-2012) of the Mexican Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AMPPI). He was also the vice president and spokesperson of the Intellectual Property Rights Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico (AmCham). Furthermore, he is an active member of the International Trademark Association (INTA) and the Inter-American Association of Trademarks (ASIPI).

In the public sector, he was appointed as the general director of the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI), a position he held from January 2013 to November 2018. During this period, he served as the chairman of the APEC Expert Group on Intellectual Property Rights. He also chaired the Madrid Assembly of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and participated in the negotiation rounds of the Treaty between Mexico, the United States, and Canada, known as T-MEC. As legacies of his tenure, it can be noted that he promoted and achieved the most important reform of the trademark system, conducted a total digital transformation in the IMPI, and completed the project of the new legislation of patents and trademarks in Mexico in accordance with the T-MEC.

Margáin holds a law degree from Universidad Panamericana and a Master of Laws degree from Cambridge University. He is a regular columnist for El Universal newspaper, where he writes about innovation and intellectual property.

He speaks English and Spanish.