- Decree on Utility Model Rights
- Description
- Pictures
- Amendments to utility model applications
- Utility Model Register
- Examination by the Registering Authority
- Receiving Office for International Applications
- Miscellaneous provisions
- Entry into Force
41BDecree on Utility Model Rights
No. 1419 of December 5, 1991, as amended by Decrees No. 1701 of December 22, 1995 and No. 119 of February 26, 1996
0BUtility Model Applications and Record of Applications
11BSection 1
A utility model application consists of an application document and accompanying documents.
The provisions in this Decree concerning utility model applications shall only apply, unless otherwise specified, to:
(1) Finnish utility model applications;
(2) international utility model applications pursued in Finland under Section 45d of the Act on Utility Model Rights or accepted for examination under Section 38 of the Patents Act (No 550/67); and
(3) European patent applications converted into national utility model applications.
12BSection 2
The application document shall be signed by the applicant or his representative and shall state:
1) the name, domicile and address of the applicant and, if the applicant has appointed a representative, the name, domicile and address of the representative;
2) the name and address of the inventor;
3) a concise and factual title for the invention to which the utility model application relates;
4) a statement as to whether priority under Section 5 of the Act on Utility Model Rights (800 /91) is claimed;
5) where registration of a utility model is applied for by several persons jointly, a statement as to whether one of such persons is entitled to receive communications from the Registering Authority on behalf of all applicants;
6) a statement as to whether the applicant requests for an examination under Section 12 of the Act on Utility Model Rights;
7) a statement as to whether the applicant requests a postponement of the registration of the utility model under Section 18 of the Act on Utility Model Rights;
8) where the application includes the deposit of a culture of a microorganism, a statement corresponding to the statement under HUSection 17bUH of the Patents Decree; and
9) a list of the documents accompanying the application document.
13BSection 3
The following documents shall accompany the application document:
1) a description of the invention together with a picture or pictures to illustrate the invention, and one or more claims;
2) if the applicant has appointed a representative, a power of attorney for the representative;
3) if the invention has been made by someone other than the applicant, a deed establishing the applicant’s title to the invention
4) a receipt for the payment of the registration fee;
5) where an examination under Section 12 of the Act on Utility Model Rights has been requested, a receipt for the payment of the examination fee.
14BSection 4
If the document is not written in one of the languages laid down by the first paragraph of Section 7 of the Act on Utility Model Rights, the applicant shall also submit to the Registering Authority a translation of the document into Finnish or Swedish. For a document other than a description or claim, the Registering Authority may waive the requirement for a translation or may accept a translation into a language other than Finnish or Swedish.
15BSection 5
Where a utility model application is made by converting from a patent application, the applicant shall in connection with the application state the date on which the patent application forming the basis of the application was made or is deemed to have been made, and the number of the patent application. The documents required, however excluding the description, claim, and copies of pictures, are transferred ex officio from the patent application to a utility model application of this kind.
A request for the postponement of registration under Section 18 of the Act on Utility Model Rights shall be filed in connection with the filing of the utility model application. A request filed subsequently shall not be granted.
16BSection 5a
The provisions of HUSections 52rUH and HU52sUH of the Patents Decree shall mutatis mutandis apply to the conversion of a European patent application into a national utility model application under Section 8a of the Act on Utility Model Rights. The provisions of the second paragraph of Section 7 of the Act on Utility Model Rights shall mutatis mutandis apply to the application fee.
17BSection 6
The Registering Authority shall enter on the utility model application the application number and the date on which it was received at the Registering Authority.
18BSection 7
The Registering Authority shall keep a record of utility model applications received. The application is entered in the record on payment of the registration fee. The record shall be accessible to the public.
The following particulars shall be recorded for each application:
1) the date on which the application was received and the application number;
2) the classes according to the International Patent Classification assigned to the application;
3) the name, domicile and address of the applicant;
4) where the applicant has appointed a representative, the name, domicile and address of the representative;
5) the name and address of the inventor;
6) the title of the invention;
7) where the application results from conversion of a previously filed patent application, the date on which the patent application was filed or is deemed to have been filed;
8) if the priority of an earlier application is claimed, the country where the earlier application given as the basis for the priority was filed, the filing date and serial number of that application;
9) a statement as to whether the application is a Finnish application or an international application or a European patent application converted into a utility model application;
10) if the application is an international application, the international filing date and the date on which he application was pursued under Section 45d of the Act on Utility Model Rights or was filed under Section 38 of the Patents Act, and the international application number;
10a) if the application has been converted from a European patent application into a national application, the filing date in accordance with the European Patent Convention and the date on which the application was filed with the Patent Authority for conversion, and the serial number of the European patent application;
11) if the application results from division, the serial number in the record of applications and the filing date of the original application;
12) if a new application results from the division, the serial number in the record of applications of the new application;
13) if the application file has been made available to the public under Section 18 of the Act on Utility Model Rights, the date on which it became available;
14) a statement as to whether an examination under Section 12 of the Act on Utility Model Rights has been requested for the application;
15) the documents filed and fees paid in respect of the application;
16) decisions taken in respect of the application.
19BSection 8
Where notice is given to the Registering Authority that an invention for which a utility model right has been sought has been assigned to another person, the latter person shall be recorded as the applicant in the record of applications only if proof of the assignment is furnished.
1BPriority
20BSection 9
To enjoy priority under Section 5 of the Act on Utility Model Rights, the applicant must claim priority in the application filed in Finland and therein state where and when the application given as a basis for the priority was filed and, as soon as possible, its serial number. If the application is made through conversion under Section 8 of the Act on Utility Model Rights, the claim to priority shall apply without a separate request also to the new application resulting from conversion.
21BSection 10
The Registering Authority may through official action request the applicant to prove the claimed priority by submitting the authority within the prescribed time limit a certificate issued by the authority with which the application for which priority is claimed was filed, stating the filing date of the priority application and the applicant’s name and also a copy of the application certified by that same authority. The copy shall be filed in the form prescribed by the Registering Authority.
22BSection 11
Priority may only be based on the first application in which the invention was disclosed.
If the person who filed the first application or his successor in title has filed a subsequent application with the same authority, relating to the same invention, the subsequent application may be cited as a basis for priority, provided that at the time of filing of the later application the earlier application was withdrawn, dismissed, or rejected without having become available to the public and without there being any rights subsisting, and had not served as a basis for priority. Where priority has been obtained on the basis of the subsequent application, the prior application may no longer serve as a basis for claiming priority.
23BSection 12
An application may claim priority deriving from several earlier applications even where they have been filed in different countries.
2BClaim
24BSection 13
The claim shall contain:
1) the title of the invention;
2) a statement identifying the art in relation to which the invention is new (prior art), where necessary; and
3) a statement of the new and characteristic features of the invention.
A utility model application may incorporate more than one claim. If an application includes more than one claim, they shall be arranged and numbered consecutively.
Each claim may relate to one invention only.
Where a utility model application contains several inventions, they shall be interdependent. In this case there shall be a technical connection between all of the inventions in that they have, in whole or in part, the same or similar special technical characteristic. The term special technical characteristic shall mean the technical feature contributed by each single invention going, in considering the invention as a whole, beyond the state of the art.
The question whether the inventions share a technical characteristic shall be determined irrespective of whether they are stated in separate patent claims or as alternatives in a single claim.
A claim may not contain any matter irrelevant to the invention disclosed therein or irrelevant to the exclusive right claimed by the applicant.
3BDescription
25BSection 14
The description may contain only subject matter that assists in understanding the invention. Where a newly-coined word or a technical term that is not generally accepted has to be used, such term shall be explained. The designations and units of measurement may not depart from those in general use in Finland.
Where the invention relates to a product of a microbiological process and a culture of the microorganism shall be deposited under the second paragraph of Section 6 of the Act on Utility Model Rights, the applicant shall in his applications documents give all relevant information regarding the characteristics of the microorganism that are available to him. The Registering Authority shall be notified of the deposit. The provisions of Section 17a, the third and fourth paragraphs of Section 17b, Section 17c and Sections 25a, 25c and