Utility models according to the intellectual property law are implements of work or objects to be utilized or parts of such implements or objects in so far as they are useful for the work or employment for which they are intended on account of a new configuration, a new arrangement or a new component device and are industrially applicable.
Utility models shall only be considered new if on the date of filing of the application for registration with the organization, they have been described in publications or if they have been publicly used on the territory of a member state.
The novelty shall not be denied if during the 12 months preceding the date of application, the implement or object or the parts of the one or the other have been the subject of a disclosure resulting from;
- An obvious violation committed against the applicant or his predecessor in title, or
- The fact that the applicant or his predecessor in title has displayed them at an official or officially recognized international exhibition.
A utility model shall be considered industrially applicable if it can be made or used in any kind of industry. In this context, the term industry is construed in its widest and broadest sense to cover handicraft, agriculture, fishery and services.
Not all subject matter can qualify for utility model protection. The following may not be registered as a utility model;
- A utility model that is contrary to public policy or morality, public health, the national economy or national defense provided that the exploitation of the said model shall not be considered contrary to public policy or morality merely because it is prohibited by law or regulation,
- A utility model already been the subject of a patent or a utility model registration based on a prior application or an application validly claiming an earlier priority.
The owner of a registration certificate shall have the right to prohibit any person from exploiting the utility model by carrying out any of the following acts;
- Manufacturing
- Offering for sale
- Selling and using the utility model
- Importing and holding it for the purposes of offering it for sale
- Selling it or using it.