Utility Models

Information for Utility Model Applicants

Entry of a utility model into the Register shall be requested on a prescribed form of the Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic (hereinafter referred to as "the Office").

Utility model application shall contain a request for entry of a utility model into the Register (hereinafter referred to as "request") with the name of a technical solution in two copies, description of a technical solution, drawings, if any, at least one claim and abstract in one original and two copies.

Request and one copy of a description, claims and drawings shall be subscribed by an applicant or his representative. One copy of documents shall enable further reproduction.

A utility model application shall contain only one technical solution or a group of technical solutions so linked as to form a single technical concept. If the Office ascertains that the application lacks unity, it shall invite an applicant to correct irregularities within a specified time limit. The Office shall confer priority right of an earlier application to excluded applications. An applicant shall be entitled to divide applications of his own accord.

Priority right shall be conferred to an applicant by filing an application. Priority right pursuant to an international treaty shall be applied by an applicant in a utility model application.

Technical solutions such as methods for production of chemical substances, pharmaceutical substances and medical use of substances and compositions of substances shall not be protected by utility models. Technical solution shall be described in a utility model application sufficiently clear to be carried out by a person skilled in art.

When formal and material irregularities of a utility model application documents are corrected, the Office shall perform a research on state of the art on a technical solution subject-matter. The research result shall be communicated to an applicant, an application together with the research result shall be published and publication shall be announced in the Journal. Any person shall be entitled to file oppositions against entry of a utility model into the Register with the Office after publication of an application within three months from this publication. Oppositions shall contain legal and factual statement of reasons, as well as evidence or indication of evidence, submitted by an opponent.

If proceedings on an application has not been suspended or an application has not been refused within preliminary examination and no oppositions against entry of a utility model into the Register have been filed or oppositions against entry of a utility model into the Register have been refused, or proceedings on oppositions have been suspended, the Office shall enter a utility model into the Register and an applicant shall become a utility model owner.

The Office shall issue a certificate on entry of a utility model into the Register to an owner and entry of a utility model shall be announced in the Journal.

The validity of a utility model shall be 4 years from the date of filing a utility model application or from filing an earlier patent application with an identical subject-matter. The Office shall extend the term of protection of a utility model on the request of a utility model owner two times, always for another 3 years.

If an applicant has already requested in the Slovak Republic granting a patent for the same technical solution, he shall have the right to request in his utility model application to request confessing filing date or eventually the right of priority from this patent application (so called "deflection"). The Office shall confess the filing date, eventually the priority right from an earlier patent, if an application is being filed during proceedings on a patent application or within at least two months from making a decision on a patent application, at longest within ten years from its filing. Utility model application may be filed together with a patent application. The Office shall cancel a utility model from the Register on a proposal of a third party for reasons pursuant to the Act (Article 44). Cancellation of a utility model from the Register shall have same effects as though the utility model has never been entered into the Register. It can also be performed after lapsing of a utility model, if a proposing person proves a legal interest in the matter.

Rights and obligations arising from creating and using utility models shall be governed by the Act No. 517/2007 Coll. (PDF, 135,2 kB) on Utility Models and on amendment of some acts as amended. Requirements as to the form and the contents of a utility model application shall be defined in the Instruction of the IPO SR.

For applicants without adequate patent and legal knowledge or skills there is recommended to use the services of patent agents, attorneys or commercial lawyers which are entitled to act before the Office (list of agents).

The Office shall perform proceedings on application with an applicant or his representative. If an author of a utility model is not an applicant, he shall not be a party to the proceedings.

Administrative fees for acts performed by the Office shall be governed by the Act No. 145/1995 Coll. (PDF, 110,9 kB) on administrative fees. Administrative fees shall be paid with filing an application. Filing an application shall be subject to administrative fee of 68 €; if an applicant is also an author, the fee shall be 34 €.

Administrative fees shall be paid in Euro. Payment may be effected by money order or transfer to a bank account of the Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic kept in the State Treasury. Payment order shall state:

Name of the account: Depozitný účet ÚPV SR BB
IBAN code:                   SK49 8180 0000 0070 0006 0750
BIC code:                     SPSRSKBA
Constant Symbol:       0558

Variable symbol shall identify a payment. Variable symbol is created by ten-digit numerical code. This code starts from left side with one-digit prefix 2, followed by nine-digit number of an application, assigned by the Office. (for example: 2000481999 is a variable symbol for utility model application No. PUV 48-99, 2500032007 is a variable symbol for utility model application No. PUV 50003-2007).