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MEXICO CITY — The Mexican Institute of Intellectual Property (IMPI) confirmed Monday that it processed and resolved a trademark dispute in under a week, a bureaucratic sprint that legal experts say has never before been achieved for anything that did not involve a duck wearing a soccer jersey.

The trademark, covering the name and likeness of Merlin, a pet duck belonging to Mexico City street vendor Karla Gómez, was granted after IMPI director Vidal Llerenas personally intervened on social media to settle competing claims from three separate applicants who had also attempted to register “El Pato Merlín” in the days following the animal’s viral fame. 

Llerenas, writing from his official X account, declared it “a public and well-known fact” that the duck belonged to the Gómez family — a level of judicial certainty that intellectual property lawyers say typically requires several years, four appeals, and at least one expert witness.

“We’ve had cases pending review since 2019 that still haven’t gotten a comment from the director’s office,” said one IMPI staffer, speaking on condition of anonymity. “But say the word ‘duck’ and ‘World Cup’ in the same sentence and suddenly everyone remembers we have an Instagram account.”

Street vendors near the Zócalo, several of whom began selling unlicensed Merlin plush toys within 48 hours of his first viral video, expressed cautious optimism that the ruling would not affect their existing inventory, on the grounds that nobody at IMPI has historically enforced anything with this level of speed before and presumably would need to file a follow-up form to start.

Gómez, for her part, said she has no interest in enriching outside companies off her pet’s fame, with one notable exception: Corporativo Pascual, the soft drink maker, whom she said she would “like to help,” declining to elaborate — a level of corporate discretion that several PR firms have reportedly tried and failed to achieve for their actual clients.

As of Tuesday, Merlin’s legal team — which is to say, Merlin’s owner and a notario — had not commented on reports that at least two additional parties were exploring trademark applications for “Merlin’s little sneakers” as a standalone brand.

By Thursday, the duck had more enforceable intellectual property rights than most Mexican small businesses ever secure in a lifetime.

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