眾律國際專利商標事務所/眾律國際法律事務所

Zoomlaw Attorneys-at-Law　Invention Patent、Utility Model Patent、Design Patent 

 Written by: Patent Engineer Meng-Xuan Lin

Attorney-at-Law 

Patent Act Article 2:

The term “patent” referred to in this Act is classified into the following three categories:

1.Invention patents’

2.Utility model patents; and

3.Design patents.

The definition for Invention Patents is being defined under Patent Act Article 21:

The term “invention” as used herein refers to any creation of technical concepts by utilizing the rules of nature.

The definition for Utility Model Patents is being defined under Patent Act Article 104:

The term “utility model” refers to any creation of technical concepts by utilizing the acts of nature, in respect of the form, construction or installation of an article.

The definition for Design Patents is being defined under Patent Act Article 121:

The term “design” refers to any creation made in respect of the shape, pattern, color, or combination thereof of an article through eye appeal.

According to the patent’s definition, you can distinguish Design Patent from the Invention Patent and Utility Model Patent, however the Invention Patent and Utility Model Patent here refers to any creation of technical concepts by utilizing the rules of nature. Question arises as to the real difference between the two.

According to the Intellectual Property Office’s website relating to Patents’ Q&A “Are there standard forms for filing patent applications?” In this article mentioned that: “Both the Invention Patent and Utility Model Patent herein refers to any creation of technical concepts by utilizing the rules of nature, which focuses on its improvement in terms of its function, technology, manufacture and ease of use. However there is a broader definition for Invention Patent, including substance (without space patterns) 、item (with certain space patterns) 、methods, biological materials and its purposes; whereas the Utility Model Patent only covers for the shape items、creative construction or combination in creativity. Therefore, you can realize that the subject matter for the Invention Patent is broader versus the Utility Model Patent is more limited in terms of its coverage.

Nevertheless, there are differences in terms of its ways of examination and patent terms for invention patent and utility model patent. The invention patent would need to conduct substantive examination and usually such examination would take a long time. However the term for an invention patent right shall ends with twenty (20) years from the filing date of the patent application, which is comparatively longer than other patent types. Whereas the utility model would only require formality examination, the time frame for its examination and its patent right is also shorter. The duration of a utility model patent right shall be ten (10) years from the filing date of the patent application. Sometimes the requirement for its patent application would be the same for its invention patent and utility model patent, therefore it is up to the applicant to evaluate its situation and to determine whether they need such patent right sooner or later, and how long they need its duration for patent right for in order to determine which type of patent to apply.

The following is a comparison table for three different types of patents namely invention patent, utility model patent and design patent:

The Glass Industry for example, please see the below diagram, if its technical content for its glass product is based on “process or material innovation”, applicant should apply for invention patents; whereas if its technical content for its glass product is based on “structure features”, applicant should apply for utility model patent; if its technical content for its glass product is based on “unique appearance”, applicant should apply for design patent.

References:

Intellectual Property Office https://www.tipo.gov.tw/mp.asp?mp=1

Intellectual Property Office Patent’s Q&A https://www.tipo.gov.tw/lp.asp?CtNode=7633&CtUnit=3732&BaseDSD=7&mp=1

Patent Act——Case type fifth edition revised by Chew-Fu Lin