QuestionsQuestions (PROCLAMATION NO. 249)
Republic Act No. 864 protects any new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture by a design patent, and any new model of implements, tools, industrial products, or parts thereof that lack invention quality but have practical utility by a patent for a utility model.
The term for both design patents and utility model patents is five years from the date of grant, with the possibility to extend twice for additional five-year periods each upon payment of fees and showing commercial or industrial use or satisfactorily explaining non-use.
No, patents for designs and utility models are not subject to the payment of annual fees provided for invention patents.
Infringement consists of unauthorized copying of the patented design or utility model for trade or industry purposes, including making, using, or selling products that copy the patented design or utility model. Identity or substantial identity is evidence of copying.
Grounds for cancellation include that the invention/design/utility model is not new or patentable; that the specification for an invention does not comply with legal requirements; or that the patent was fraudulently derived from the true inventor, designer, or author.
Any person falsely representing a device, article, or product as patented may be fined between one hundred to one thousand pesos, or imprisoned from one month to one year, or both, at the court's discretion. This penalty applies when false patent claims are made on the product, its packaging, or advertising.
Any party may appeal a final order or decision of the Director to the Supreme Court in matters of patent application, interference proceedings, patent cancellation, compulsory licenses, or other Office proceedings.
The fee for filing an application for a design or utility model patent, including the cost of publication, is seventy-five pesos.
Before expiration of the five-year term, the owner may apply for a five-year extension by paying the required fee and submitting an affidavit showing commercial or industrial use or explaining non-use. A third extension for another five years is possible under similar conditions.
The standard of novelty established for inventions under section nine applies to ornamental designs. A utility model is considered not new if it has been publicly known, used, described in printed publications circulated in the country, or is substantially similar to such models.