Intellectual property on custom merch
Who owns the artwork on your custom merch, what license we need to print it, and how we keep your trademarks safe through the production cycle in Mexico under the Ley Federal del Derecho de Autor and the Ley de la Propiedad Industrial.
Why IP matters before the first sample is produced
Custom merch is, before anything else, an intellectual-property transaction. The client owns a logo, a brand, a slogan, or a piece of artwork, and the merch vendor turns that intangible asset into a physical product. The rules around who owns what, who licenses what, and who is liable when a third party shows up with a similar mark are the same rules that govern any creative work in Mexico — the Ley Federal del Derecho de Autor (LFDA) for copyright and the Ley de la Propiedad Industrial (LPI) for trademarks, trade dress, and patents. This page is a practical summary of how Corp-Merch handles them, written for procurement and legal teams who do not want to read the full statutes.
The default rule is simple: you keep the IP, we get a limited license to reproduce it on the products we deliver. That license covers production, internal distribution to your team or to your customers, and any sample we keep in our portfolio unless you explicitly ask us not to keep one. The license is non-exclusive, non-transferable, and ends when the order is delivered and paid. We do not register your mark in INDAUTOR or IMPI on your behalf — that decision belongs to your legal team.
Before we touch a file, we sign a mutual NDA. The NDA covers the artwork you send, the pre-production samples we produce to confirm colors and finishing, and any photographic material we generate during production. We use a standard NDA as the starting point, and we accept additional clauses for clients in regulated industries — pharma, finance, and government usually ask for specific language tied to their compliance program.
When the artwork includes third-party elements — a stock image, a song lyric, a public figure's likeness, a third-party brand mark — we ask for the original license or written permission before production. We do not print anything that has not been cleared, regardless of the customer's willingness to take the risk. If the client insists, we decline the order rather than absorb the legal exposure. We have walked away from orders where the artwork looked ambiguous.
Work-for-hire (obra por encargo) is an option when the client wants the design itself transferred to them. Under Mexican copyright law, obra por encargo is recognized, but the written contract is what proves the transfer of economic rights. We draft a one-page cession document per project that lists the deliverable, the consideration, and the territorial scope. Without that document, the designer keeps the moral rights even when the economic rights have been transferred.
For brand assets — logos, word marks, color systems, packaging patterns — we work only with what the client provides or what a licensed design agency produces. We never generate a new logo for a client because logo creation is a strategic exercise that belongs with the client's brand team or with a contracted agency. The same logic applies to packaging design, signage systems, and naming work — these are upstream creative tasks, not merch production tasks.
Frequently asked questions about intellectual property
What legal, brand, and procurement teams most often ask before sharing artwork and trademarks with a merch vendor.
Do I keep ownership of my logo after the order is delivered?
Yes. The license we use is non-exclusive and limited to the production run. You keep the underlying rights, you keep the INDAUTOR or IMPI registration if you have one, and you can use the same logo with any other vendor without notifying us. The license terminates automatically when the order is paid in full.
Can Corp-Merch register my trademark at IMPI on my behalf?
No. Trademark registration is a legal procedure that requires a licensed agente de propiedad industrial authorized by IMPI. We can introduce you to one, but the application, the search fees, and the legal review are yours. Our role ends at the production line.
What happens if someone claims my logo infringes their mark?
We pause production immediately and ask for documentation from both sides. In our experience, most claims are resolved by changing the artwork rather than going through litigation, because the difference between two similar marks is often a matter of spacing, color, or a graphic element that can be adjusted. We absorb the cost of any sample already produced.
Do I need to register my design at INDAUTOR to be protected?
Registration strengthens the position, but in Mexico copyright exists from the moment the work is fixed in a tangible medium (the principle of "creación y fijación"). We recommend registration for logos and product designs that will live for several years; for one-off event merch the cost of registration (around MXN $400–$600 in 2026) is usually not worth it.
Can I use a song lyric or a movie character in my design?
Only with a license from the rights holder. We do not print song lyrics, characters, branded elements, or recognizable fictional personas without written permission. We do not accept "fair use" (uso legítimo) arguments for promotional merch because the merchandise market is commercial, not educational.
How is my artwork stored, and for how long?
Production-ready files are stored on encrypted drives at our facility for the duration of the warranty period (twelve months after delivery) and then archived for another twenty-four months for re-order purposes. After that, we delete the artwork unless you ask us to keep it longer in writing.
Can I share my artwork under a custom NDA?
Yes. We accept additional clauses for regulated industries — pharma, finance, government, defense — and we sign before we see the file. Our standard NDA covers most cases. We turn custom NDAs around in two to three business days.
Can Corp-Merch show my merch in a public portfolio?
Only with your written permission. We default to private unless the project is already public — a campaign you have launched, a press release you have published, a tradeshow booth that was photographed on the show floor. We do not use client logos in our own marketing without explicit consent.
Related FAQs
If you are sharing artwork or trademarks with a merch vendor, these may also help.
About to send us a logo or a design file?
We sign an NDA before the file leaves your server. Send the brief and we reply within 24 business hours with the production scope, the documentation we will issue, and the artwork handoff checklist.