A utility model is a contract with the government of a country, which grants the right to manufacture and market an invention exclusively in a specific territory during a maximum period of ten years, in exchange for registering and making the technical details of the invention public and paying rates periodically. Utility models only offer protection in the territories it is applied for and as such, anybody is free to explore the invention in the remaining, non-protected territories.
Once ten years have passed, exclusivity comes to an end and the invention then passes into the public domain.
It may therefore be manufactured and marketed by anybody in the territory or territories that were protected.
Utility models cannot protect generic ideas and must always relate to specific technical solutions. Said technical solutions may relate to devices or systems, but the protection of methods is not allowed with the exception of a few countries.
In order for a utility model to be granted, it must comply with the requirements of novelty and inventive step.
Not all countries offer the possibility of filing utility models, although they can be granted in various European countries. Consult the list of countries in whic
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European countries
Germany, Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Slovakia, Spain, Finland, France (valid for six years), Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Moldova, Poland, Portugal, Russia, The Czech Republic, Turkey and the Ukraine.
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Countries in North and South America
Argentina, Aruba, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago and Uruguay.
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Asian countries
South Korea, China, Egypt, the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Macau, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan.
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African countries
Angola, ARIPO, Ethiopia, OAPI.
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Countries in Oceania
Australia (with certain limitations), Tonga.
(List updated in 2015)