Services

Inventions

  • Prior consultation: meeting with the client, in order to obtain the maximum amount of information and to outline the most adequate protection strategy.
  • Drafting of the description and claims and filing the application with the corresponding patent office.
  • Control and monitoring of the different stages of the patent application procedure and maintenance of granted patents.
  • Information on patents published all over the world.
  • Oppositions, official remarks and appeals against patent applications and patents of competitors, as well as defence of patent applications in case of oppositions, remarks and appeals filed by third parties.
  • Patent defence before the corresponding patent authorities, always in close collaboration with the client in order to solve eventual objections by examiners.
  • Patentability reports and examinations. Aimed at sparing unnecessary registrations to our client or at evaluating a patent from a competitor.
  • Technological watching searches in the specific technical fields corresponding to a client’s activity.

Portuguese Patent

This gives its owner the exclusive right to exploit the invention in Portugal.

The Procedure starts as soon as the patent application is filed; following a formal examination and 18 months after the filing or priority date it is published.

Following the publication of the application, a two-month opposition phase begins, during which anyone who considers themselves injured as a result of the grant can file a complaint.

Once the opposition phase has come to an end (or a complaint has been filed), the application is submitted to an examination. The conclusion of this process is that the notification of grant, refusal, or partial grant, is issued accordingly.

It is valid for 20 years starting from the application date.

In order to keep the patent in force, annuity fees have to be paid from the third year.

Currently, it is possible to present a provisional patent application, which is a simpler, easier and more accessible way to present a patent application, having the following advantages:

  • It is possible to establish immediately the priority of an invention with a minimum of formalities
  • It is possible to postpone, until the maximum time frame of 12 months, the formalization of a complete patent application
  • The confidentiality of the invention is assured (the provisional patent application is not published)
  • It is possible to search the state of the art (the provisional application could be the basis of a search)
  • The initial investment is reduced, granting the applicant up to one year to evaluate the potential of an invention, to decide about the real possibilities of industrial application or to improve the invention (if the subject is considered in the provisional application)

European Patent

It covers all contracting states of the European Patent Convention. The procedure includes a formal examination, a Search Report and a Preliminary Examination Report, both mandatory, and results in the grant of a European patent.

Oppositions may be filed against European patents after they have been granted. In order to be legally enforceable, a European patent needs to be validated in the different states where protection is sought.

It is legally valid for a term of twenty years from the application date.

In order to keep the patent in force, annuities fees have to be paid from the third year.

International Patent

It is not a patent grant procedure but a unified patent filing procedure that covers states from all over the world. It allows the postponement of the costs of national applications in the different states until the 30th month from the application or priority date. One of the possible designations is the European patent. It includes two phases: the international phase and the national phase.

The international phase includes a formal examination and a Search Report, both mandatory, and an optional in-depth examination.

The national phase is equivalent to a single application in each designated state, with the advantage that it has already been examined during the international phase.

The yearly maintenance fees are to be paid during the national phase in the different states.

Utility Model

Protecting an invention by means of a utility model involves an administrative procedure that is faster and simpler than the process of applying for a patent. However, this type of protection cannot be granted to inventions dealing with biological material or chemical and pharmaceutical substances or processes.

The major advantage of utility models is that applicants are only required to pay the filing fee. They can postpone, or maybe never even have to pay, the examination fee which is normally higher than the filling fee, due to its nature as a more costly and demanding intellectual task for the administration. This fee is only paid when/if it is deemed necessary (for example, when the owner would like to initiate legal proceedings).

The duration of a utility model is 6 years, starting from the filing or priority date, but this period can be extended. During the final six months of the validity period, the owner can request an extension for a period of two years, and during the final six months of this supplementary period, a second and final request for extension of the protection period can be made, again for a period of two years.

The duration of a utility model, together with its two extensions, cannot exceed 10 years, starting from the date the initial application was filed.

In order to keep the utility model in force, annuities fees have to be paid from the third year.

This gives its owner the exclusive right to exploit the invention in Portugal.

The Procedure starts as soon as the patent application is filed; following a formal examination and 18 months after the filing or priority date it is published.

Following the publication of the application, a two-month opposition phase begins, during which anyone who considers themselves injured as a result of the grant can file a complaint.

Once the opposition phase has come to an end (or a complaint has been filed), the application is submitted to an examination. The conclusion of this process is that the notification of grant, refusal, or partial grant, is issued accordingly.

It is valid for 20 years starting from the application date.

In order to keep the patent in force, annuity fees have to be paid from the third year.

Currently, it is possible to present a provisional patent application, which is a simpler, easier and more accessible way to present a patent application, having the following advantages:

  • It is possible to establish immediately the priority of an invention with a minimum of formalities
  • It is possible to postpone, until the maximum time frame of 12 months, the formalization of a complete patent application
  • The confidentiality of the invention is assured (the provisional patent application is not published)
  • It is possible to search the state of the art (the provisional application could be the basis of a search)
  • The initial investment is reduced, granting the applicant up to one year to evaluate the potential of an invention, to decide about the real possibilities of industrial application or to improve the invention (if the subject is considered in the provisional application)

It covers all contracting states of the European Patent Convention. The procedure includes a formal examination, a Search Report and a Preliminary Examination Report, both mandatory, and results in the grant of a European patent.

Oppositions may be filed against European patents after they have been granted. In order to be legally enforceable, a European patent needs to be validated in the different states where protection is sought.

It is legally valid for a term of twenty years from the application date.

In order to keep the patent in force, annuities fees have to be paid from the third year.

It is not a patent grant procedure but a unified patent filing procedure that covers states from all over the world. It allows the postponement of the costs of national applications in the different states until the 30th month from the application or priority date. One of the possible designations is the European patent. It includes two phases: the international phase and the national phase.

The international phase includes a formal examination and a Search Report, both mandatory, and an optional in-depth examination.

The national phase is equivalent to a single application in each designated state, with the advantage that it has already been examined during the international phase.

The yearly maintenance fees are to be paid during the national phase in the different states.

Protecting an invention by means of a utility model involves an administrative procedure that is faster and simpler than the process of applying for a patent. However, this type of protection cannot be granted to inventions dealing with biological material or chemical and pharmaceutical substances or processes.

The major advantage of utility models is that applicants are only required to pay the filing fee. They can postpone, or maybe never even have to pay, the examination fee which is normally higher than the filling fee, due to its nature as a more costly and demanding intellectual task for the administration. This fee is only paid when/if it is deemed necessary (for example, when the owner would like to initiate legal proceedings).

The duration of a utility model is 6 years, starting from the filing or priority date, but this period can be extended. During the final six months of the validity period, the owner can request an extension for a period of two years, and during the final six months of this supplementary period, a second and final request for extension of the protection period can be made, again for a period of two years.

The duration of a utility model, together with its two extensions, cannot exceed 10 years, starting from the date the initial application was filed.

In order to keep the utility model in force, annuities fees have to be paid from the third year.

Official Agent

European Patents, Trade Marks and Design Attorneys

Alvaro Duarte and Associados is a company which has been working in the field of Industrial Property since 1973. Our objective is to be leader in the field of the protection, maintenance and defence of all types of legal rights relating to patents, Trade Marks and other distinguishing marks of business.

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