Utility Models


The utility model provided by the Italian law is an exclusive right protecting inventions whose inventive step is lower than that of a patent (minor improvements to, or adaptation of, existing products).

The term of protection is of ten years.

Average 3500 utility model applications are filed in Italy every year.

As in the case of a patent, an utility model entitles the owner to forbid third parties from using the protected invention. Utility models constitute a considerable volume of pubblications entering the prior art.





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