<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>This paper concerns mechanisms for the protection of utility models in Poland. These mechanisms are at present on the verge of substantial change as a new draft regulation was opened for public consultation in 2022. Select results of analyses of the utility model applications filed in the years 2001–2020 were reported. The analyses concerned possible routes for filing utility model applications in Poland, the most popular fields in which utility model protection is used, and the origins of utility models protected in Poland by the country of residence of the first applicant. It has been noted that a key strength of the utility models is the criteria granting exclusive rights. In terms of the advantages related to disclosure, the state-of-the-art protected utility model needs only to be novel; there is no requirement concerning the inventive step. This makes the assessment of validity relatively reliable and significantly reduces the risk that the enforced right of protection will be invalidated. This strength will likely be preserved in the review of the draft regulation that is about to abolish substantial examination and replace it with a registration system. The change is supposed to reduce the time of prosecution, thus making the conversion from refused/withdrawn European patent applications to Polish utility models more attractive.</p>
</abstract>

This paper concerns mechanisms for the protection of utility models in Poland. These mechanisms are at present on the verge of substantial change as a new draft regulation was opened for public consultation in 2022. Select results of analyses of the utility model applications filed in the years 2001–2020 were reported. The analyses concerned possible routes for filing utility model applications in Poland, the most popular fields in which utility model protection is used, and the origins of utility models protected in Poland by the country of residence of the first applicant. It has been noted that a key strength of the utility models is the criteria granting exclusive rights. In terms of the advantages related to disclosure, the state-of-the-art protected utility model needs only to be novel; there is no requirement concerning the inventive step. This makes the assessment of validity relatively reliable and significantly reduces the risk that the enforced right of protection will be invalidated. This strength will likely be preserved in the review of the draft regulation that is about to abolish substantial examination and replace it with a registration system. The change is supposed to reduce the time of prosecution, thus making the conversion from refused/withdrawn European patent applications to Polish utility models more attractive.

Protection of Utility Models in Poland: A Brief History and Perspective for the Future

Law and Business

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

This paper concerns mechanisms for the protection of utility models in Poland. These mechanisms are at present on the verge of substantial change as a new...

	Utility model applications
Priority claims from foreign patent or utility model applications	867
Internal priority claims from patent or utility model applications	17
Priority claims from Polish exhibitions	102
Priority claims from international exhibitions	0
Priority claims from registered community designs	18
Total	16222

	Section	Class	Subclass	Group	Subgroup
Example	A	01	B	33	/08
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Protection of Utility Models in Poland: A Brief History and Perspective for the Future

Article Category: Research Article

Published Online: Dec 31, 2022

Page range: 35 - 47

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/law-2022-0004

Keywords
Utility model, Poland, Legislative changes, Examination, Statistics, Small patent, Petty patent

© 2022 Marek Bury, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Priority claims in the Polish utility model applications filed 2001–2020.

IPC symbol.

Protection of Utility Models in Poland: A Brief History and Perspective for the Future

Article Category: Research Article

Published Online: Dec 31, 2022

Page range: 35 - 47

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/law-2022-0004

KeywordsUtility model, Poland, Legislative changes, Examination, Statistics, Small patent, Petty patent

© 2022 Marek Bury, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Priority claims in the Polish utility model applications filed 2001–2020.

IPC symbol.

Keywords
Utility model, Poland, Legislative changes, Examination, Statistics, Small patent, Petty patent