UTILITY MODEL
Like the patent, the utility model provides protection for technical inventions. Compared to a patent, the registration procedure is considerably shorter and less expensive, as it is purely a registration procedure in which the invention is only formally examined upon registration. The maximum term is only 10 years and technical processes are excluded from utility model protection.
Scope of application
Eligible for protection are technical inventions, e.g. machines, devices and equipment, circuits and chemical products.
Exclusions
Aesthetic creations (design), rules for games, pure computer programs (software), " methods " including pure working practices.
Requirements
The subject matter of a utility model application must be new and based on an "inventive step", i.e. it must not be easy for the average person skilled in the art to deduce it from the known state of the art.
Registration and examination
The structure of a utility model application largely corresponds to that of a patent application; the documents must be filed with the German Patent and Trademark Office. Registration is effected without substantive examination as to novelty and the existence of an inventive step. Therefore, the registered utility model may be only a "sham right" which cannot be enforced in case of conflict. This risk can be significantly minimized if the application is properly drafted on the basis of a prior search to determine the prior art. This leads to a strengthening of the utility model - it is less contestable in case of a possible dispute.
Maximum Term
The utility model can be renewed after three years for a further three years and then twice for two years each. This results in a maximum total term of ten years, calculated from the date of filing.