In
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
and
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west...
n
patentA patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for a public disclosure of an invention....
lawLaw is a system of rules, usually enforced through a set of institutions. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a primary social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus ticket to trading on derivatives markets...
s, the
Gebrauchsmuster (GebrM), also known as
German utility model or
Austrian utility model, is a patent-like,
intellectual propertyIntellectual property is a number of distinct types of legal monopolies over creations of the mind, both artistic and commercial, and the corresponding fields of law...
right protecting
inventionAn invention is a new configuration, device, or process. Some inventions are based on pre-existing models or ideas and others are radical breakthroughs...
s.
The Gebrauchsmuster is slightly different from the patent. It mainly differs from the patent in that processes and methods cannot be protected by a Gebrauchsmuster, only products can. Furthermore, the
termThe term of a patent is the maximum period during which it can be maintained into force. It is usually expressed in number of years either starting from the filing date of the patent application or from the date of grant of the patent. In most patent laws, renewal annuities or maintenance fees have...
of a Gebrauchsmuster, that is its maximal life time, is 10 years from the date of registration.
In
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
and
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west...
n
patentA patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for a public disclosure of an invention....
lawLaw is a system of rules, usually enforced through a set of institutions. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a primary social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus ticket to trading on derivatives markets...
s, the
Gebrauchsmuster (GebrM), also known as
German utility model or
Austrian utility model, is a patent-like,
intellectual propertyIntellectual property is a number of distinct types of legal monopolies over creations of the mind, both artistic and commercial, and the corresponding fields of law...
right protecting
inventionAn invention is a new configuration, device, or process. Some inventions are based on pre-existing models or ideas and others are radical breakthroughs...
s.
The Gebrauchsmuster is slightly different from the patent. It mainly differs from the patent in that processes and methods cannot be protected by a Gebrauchsmuster, only products can. Furthermore, the
termThe term of a patent is the maximum period during which it can be maintained into force. It is usually expressed in number of years either starting from the filing date of the patent application or from the date of grant of the patent. In most patent laws, renewal annuities or maintenance fees have...
of a Gebrauchsmuster, that is its maximal life time, is 10 years from the date of registration. In contrast, a patent has usually a term of 20 years from the date of filing of the application.
Germany
The German
utility modelA utility model is an intellectual property right to protect inventions. This right is available in a number of national legislations, such as Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Chile, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Philippines, Poland,...
has some interesting characteristics, when compared to the German patent or to the
European patentThe Convention on the Grant of European Patents of 5 October 1973, commonly known as the European Patent Convention , is a multilateral treaty instituting the European Patent Organisation and providing an autonomous legal system according to which European patents are granted...
designating Germany:
- Prior art
Prior art , in most systems of patent law, constitutes all information that has been made available to the public in any form before a given date that might be relevant to a patent's claims of originality...
considered for examining noveltyNovelty is a patentability requirement. An invention is not patentable if the claimed subject matter was disclosed before the date of filing, or before the date of priority if a priority is claimed, of the patent application....
and inventive stepThe inventive step and non-obviousness reflect a same general patentability requirement present in most patent laws, according to which an invention should be sufficiently inventive — i.e., non-obvious — in order to be patented....
is somewhat more limited:
- Oral disclosures are not taken into account, only written disclosures are taken into account;
- Public prior use outside Germany is not taken into account;
- A six-month grace period before the priority
The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, signed in Paris, France, on March 20, 1883, was one of the first intellectual property treaties...
date is provided for written disclosures or prior public use made by applicants or their predecessors in title.
- They are not substantially examined. Only registration is sufficient to obtain a utility model.
German utility models are made available to the public directly when they are registered (
Eintragungstag, the date of entry of the German utility model in the register of utility models of the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA)), i.e. before the publication date (
Bekanntmachung):
In contrast, patents are made available to the public 18 months after the filing date, unless the applicant requests early publication.
The German
Gebrauchsmuster is regulated by German Gebrauchsmuster Act (in German:
Gebrauchsmustergesetz) and German Gebrauchsmuster Ordinance (in German:
Verordnung zur Ausführung des Gebrauchsmustergesetzes).
Austria
The
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west...
n utility model is similar to the German utility model. The main differences are:
- A search report
In patent law, a search report is a report established by a patent office, which mentions documents which may be taken into consideration in deciding whether the invention to which a patent application relates is patentable...
is carried out within 6 to 8 months. No additional searching fee is required.
- The range of protection is broader than the German utility model. There is additional protection for:
- Logic algorithm
In mathematics, computing, linguistics, and related subjects, an algorithm is an effective method for solving a problem using a finite sequence of instructions. Algorithms are used for calculation, data processing, and many other fields....
for computer softwareComputer software, or just software is a general term used todescribe the role that computer programs, procedures anddocumentation play in a computer system.The term includes:...
- Processes
- Therapy methods for animals
See also
- Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt
The Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt or German Patent and Trade Mark Office is the German national patent office, with headquarters at Munich, and offices in Berlin and Jena...
(German Patent and Trade Mark Office)
- Geschmacksmuster
Under German law, the Geschmacksmuster is a form of intellectual property that extends industrial design rights over the visual design of objects that is not purely utilitarian...
(German industrial design right)
- Österreichisches Patentamt (Austrian Patent and Trade Mark Office)
- Auslegeschrift
Auslegeschrift was, in German patent law, the second reading, or publication, of a patent application. It has been examined and published. German patents are often numbered or cited by the Auslegeschrift. This staged system was, from 1981 onwards, dropped...
External links