Results Definitions & Info Page

It is a title providing the inventor and/or the applicant with the exclusive right to prevent others from possessing, using, selling, manufacturing and importing the patented invention or offering to do any of these things within a territory. 

Inventions are patentable, with the following exclusions (Art 52 EPC): 

• Discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods; 
• Aesthetic creations; 
• Schemes, rules and methods for performing mental acts, playing games or doing business, and programs for computers; 
• Presentations of information. 

And the following exceptions: 

Art 53 EPC:

• contrary to "order public" or morality
• plant or animal varieties or essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals
• methods for treatment of the human or animal body by surgery or therapy and diagnostic methods practiced on the human or animal body

Patents maybe granted for any invention concerned with the functional and technical aspects of products and processes. To qualify for patent protection the invention must fulfil the so-called conditions of patentability: 

• Patentable subject matter 
• Novelty 

  • Art 54, European Patent Convention: 

    An invention shall be considered to be new if it does not form part of the state of the art. State of the art : Everything made available to the public by means of a written or oral description, by use, or in any other way, before the date of filing of the European patent application. Evaluate carefully disclosure and dissemination activities 

    
    

• Inventive step (non-obviousness) 

  • Art 56 European Patent Convention: An invention shall be considered as involving an inventive step if, having regard to the state of the art, it is not obvious to a person skilled in the art. 

    Examples of typical cases of lacking of inventive step 

    •Simple substitution of a known element from another to obtain predictable results or interchange of material with another known material having analogue effect. 

    •Use of known technique or workshop modification to improve similar products, processes or devices in the same, predictable way. 

    •Simple and direct extrapolation of known facts, such as change of size, form or proportion, without any unexpected effect. 

    •Selection from a number of alternative possibilities without any unexpected effect. 

• Industrial Applicability (utility) 

  • Art 57 European Patent Convention: 

    •An invention shall be considered as susceptible of industrial application if it can be made or used in any kind of industry, including agriculture. 

    
    

It is a title of protection for certain inventions, such as inventions in the mechanical field. Utility models are usually sought for technically less complex inventions or for inventions that have a short commercial life. 

In the EU only 17 countries provide a registration process for utility models. The latter is significantly simpler and faster than the patent application process, taking - on average - six months. Finally, utility models are much cheaper to obtain and to maintain. 

Utility models are usually sought for:

• technically less complex inventions, therefore inventions which do not fulfil the inventive step requirement; usually such invention instead of the normal level of inventive step only present a technical advantage.
• for inventions that have a short commercial life and therefore they do not need twenty year of protection. (Although they could, sometimes, be potentially patentable see example 3)
• or simply because the inventor wants to obtain an Intellectual Property right quicker than he would do through a patent application. (It takes on average six months to obtain a utility model). Infact the registration procedure is usually faster as there is no preliminary examination of the requirements and more importantly no search report is required although it is necessary when it comes to enforce the Utility Model.

It refers to the right granted to protect the original, ornamental and non-functional features of a product that result from design activity. The right concerns merely the appearance (the 'design') of a product, not the product itself. 

An industrial design may be granted in relation to the visual features of a product (i.e. shape, ornamentation, pattern, configuration, etc.). Designs that are dictated solely by the article’s function are excluded from protection. 

To qualify for protection the design must show: 

• Novelty 
• Individual character 

It is a sign, or a combination of signs, used in trade to identify and distinguish the goods or services of one enterprise from those of another. A trade mark owner is granted exclusive rights to: 

• use the mark in relation to the goods or services with respect to which it is registered 
• prevent others from using a substantially identical or deceptively similar mark in relation to identical or similar goods or services. 

Words, letters, numerals, pictures, shapes and colours, as well as any combination of the above. The registration of less traditional forms of trade marks is now allowed, such as three-dimensional signs (like the Coca-Cola bottle), audible signs (sounds, Nokia jingle), or olfactory signs (smells). 

In order for a sign to be eligible for trade mark protection, it must: 

• Be distinctive 
• Not be deceptive 
• Not be descriptive 
• Not belong to the exclusions provided by the law 
• Be in conformity with public order and morality.