Utility Models
Utility models are registered based on the so-called registration principle, where the office registers the respective model in the register without examining the criteria of novelty and inventive level, such as whether it should be protected or not. This is the main achievement that distinguishes utility models from the patent system.
Utility Models
Protection cannot be granted for technical solutions that conflict with public order, especially for the moral principles of humanity, as well as for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of animals and humans, plant and animal varieties, and the biological reproduction of materials and production processes or labor activities.
Utility Models
Utility models are registered based on the so-called registration principle, where the office registers the respective model in the register without examining the criteria of novelty and inventive level, such as whether it should be protected or not. This is the main achievement that distinguishes utility models from the patent system.
Since the registration of a utility model in the Office provides an opportunity to increase protection, the effects of which are fully equivalent to those of a patent, the utility model offers the possibility to seek protection for a solution through a faster registration process than that of a patent. This is particularly important for objects that need to be brought to market in time, as in the case of a relatively lengthy patent granting procedure, they would remain unprotected.
Without the approval of the owner of the utility model, no one can produce or introduce the protected technical solution into the market. Identical to the case of a patent owner, the owner of a utility model is authorized to grant approval for the use of the respective utility model (license) to other persons or transfer the utility model to them.
A patent application can be converted, upon a written request from the applicant, into a utility model application, as long as the patent has not been granted by the DPPI.
The treatment of utility models is the same as the treatment of patents.
In contrast to a patent, the protection period of a utility model is 10 years from the date of application filing.