Menu
INVENTIONS · UTILITY MODEL
Did you improve a tool, a container, a device? A utility model protects that functional advantage for 10 years, with a simpler and more affordable procedure than a patent.
WHAT IT IS
It is an industrial property title that protects a new shape or arrangement of a known object that improves its use or function: a mate gourd with a threaded lid that doesn’t spill, pliers with an angle that improves grip, a container that dispenses more precisely. It does not require the inventive step of a patent: it requires novelty and that the improvement be functional, not merely aesthetic (for aesthetics there is the industrial design).
If you want to see it through concrete cases, take a look at these examples of utility models (in Spanish) from Argentine and international companies.
COMPARISON
| Utility model | Invention patent | |
|---|---|---|
| What it protects | Functional improvement to an object | New invention (product/process) |
| Requirement | Novelty + improved use | Absolute novelty + inventive step |
| Term | 10 years | 20 years |
| Cost and timing | Lower | Higher |
Not sure which one applies? It is the most common question we get, and we answer it free of charge. More on patents: how to patent an idea or invention.
OUR SERVICE
From the initial analysis to the grant, we handle the entire procedure before the INPI (Argentina’s National Institute of Industrial Property).
We evaluate your development and confirm that a utility model is the right route (and not a patent or an industrial design).
We verify the novelty of your improvement before filing.
Specification, claim, and drawings: the heart of your protection.
We respond to office actions and monitor the file until the grant.
Your improvement is protected for 10 years and you can take action against anyone who copies it.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Novelty is assessed as of the filing date, with a limited grace period for your own disclosures. If you are already selling it, contact us right away: there may still be room to protect it.
Yes: a granted utility model gives you exclusivity and allows infringement claims, just like a patent.
If your development is a functional improvement to a known object, almost always the utility model: fewer requirements, lower cost, shorter procedure. If it is a fundamentally new invention, a patent. We define it in the first consultation, free of charge.
We have a complete guide with real and famous cases on our blog (in Spanish): “Ejemplos de modelos de utilidad”.
Tell us what you improved and we will evaluate your case free of charge.
Av. T. Malbrán 4011 P2
Cerro de las Rosas, Córdoba
Mon–Fri 8:30–13:30 / 14:30–17:30
