The Intellectual Property Rights Helpdesk has produced a briefing paper on the role of Utility Models as an alternative to patents.
Below is a brief synopsis but for more details go to the following URL:
http://www.ipr-helpdesk.org/updates
Utility Models - An Alternative to Patents?
A utility model is a registered right for technical inventions, which entitles the owner to forbid third parties from exploiting the inventions subject to this protective right or from using them in any way. As in the case of a patent, this concerns technical inventions, which must be new and show a certain level of inventiveness. Utility models are generally granted, however, without examining the novelty and inventive step, which is why they can be obtained more quickly and more economically.
Protection by utility model has advantages compared to patent protection, primarily the requirements for the utility model are more flexible and therefore easier to satisfy. While absolute novelty and a very particular level of inventiveness are necessary to file for a patent, to a large extent a lower level of inventiveness is required for the granting of a utility model. Also expectations are lower regarding novelty. In Spain, for example, only the national state of the art is considered as a scale. In comparison with patent protection, even inventions with smaller advances in development can be protected, which benefits not only SMEs, but also large-scale businesses.
However, not all types of invention can generally be placed under the protection of a utility model. With the exception of Austria, in Member States of the European Union in which there is a utility model law, no inventions which involve processes can be placed under such protection. Furthermore, because of the absence of any examination of novelty and level of inventiveness, the registration is quicker and simpler (on average six months). This quick registration enables more rapid commercial exploitation of the invention, either by the allocation of licences or by direct use. If the invention can be subject to both patent and utility model, it is possible to bridge the long period leading up to the grant of the patent by a utility model filed in parallel. This is particularly significant in those Member States where, due to the detailed examination for novelty and level of inventiveness, the processing of a patent takes a long time.
Utility models are more economical, because neither novelty nor level of inventiveness has to be examined. The cost factor is also crucial with inventions whose economic success is difficult to assess. This applies in particular to SMEs, the majority of which do not possess the necessary market information in order to estimate the sales of new products.
For further information contact the Intellectual Property Rights Helpdesk in Luxembourg.
Telephone +352 47 11 11 1 or send an e-mail to info@ipr-helpdesk.org also visit the website at http://www.cordis.lu/ipr-helpdesk
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Aug 10 2001 - 15:58:20 EDT