Utility models summary

Legal protection of a utility model is granted through registration with the Patent Office.

The following shall not be considered utility models:

• discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods;
• results of artistic creativity;
• plans, rules and methods for intellectual activity, for games or business and computer programs;
• presentation of information.

The following shall not be registered as utility models:

• decisions whose commercial use violates public order and morals;
• methods;
• chemical compounds or their use;
• use of human embryos for industrial or commercial purposes;
• plant varieties and animal breeds;
• a product consisting of or containing biological material.

The validity of the registration of the utility model is four years from the date of submission of the application. It may be extended for two consecutive periods of three years, the total term of protection shall not exceeding ten years from the date of application.

The registered utility model has a territorial effect.   

Right to apply

The right of application belongs to the inventor or his successor. Where the right of application belongs to several persons, it shall be exercised jointly by them. The refusal of one or several of them to participate in the application or in the procedure of registration of the patent shall not be an obstacle for the others to perform the actions provided for in the law.

1. The applicant shall be deemed to have the right to apply until otherwise established in court.

2. The right to claim an invention created under the conditions of Art. 15 of APRUM, belongs to the employer if he submits an application within three months of receiving notification from the inventor about the creation of the invention. Otherwise, the right of application passes to the inventor. The right of application may belong jointly to the employer and the inventor, if this is agreed in advance in a contract.

3. Where the invention is established on the basis of a contract, the right of claim belongs to the assignor unless otherwise provided in the contract.

Right of the inventor to be named

The inventor of a utility model has the right to be mentioned in the application, in the issued patent for invention or in the certificate for registration of a utility model, as well as in publications about the utility model. This right is personal and non-transferable.

The Patent Office shall monitor ex officio the designation of the inventor or co-inventors in the application or in the registration certificate.