Título III Capítulo II. Modelos de utilidad

The provisions concerning invention patents are, as applicable, applicable to utility model patents, to the extent that they do not contravene the special provisions contained in this chapter.

The following may not be the subject of a utility model patent:

a)Processes;

b)Substances or compositions; and

c)Matter excluded from patentability in accordance with this law.

A utility model shall be patentable when it is susceptible of industrial application and has novelty. A utility model shall not be considered novel when it does not provide any discernible utilitarian characteristic with respect to the state of the art.

Among others, utensils, objects, apparatus, instruments, tools and devices, as well as parts thereof, which, as a result of a modification in their arrangement, configuration, structure or form, present a different function with respect to the parts comprising it or advantages with regard to its utility, shall be considered utility models.

A utility model patent application may refer only to one object or to a set of two or more parts forming a functional unit. Several elements or aspects of said object or unit may be claimed in the same application.

The utility model patent shall be in force for a term of ten years, counted from the filing date of the respective patent application.