Utility Models
Legal Basis
– The Azeri Patent Law of July 25, 1997, includes provisions on utility models as well.
Protection
Applicant: inventor or his legal successor.
Foreigners: must appoint a local agent in Azerbaijan.
Protection of foreigners: they enjoy the same rights as Azeri nationals.
Scope of protection: a patent is granted for solutions of structural embodiment of the means of production of the consumers’ goods and also component parts thereof.
Patentability: a patent is granted for a utility model which is new and is industrially applicable.
Novelty: the novelty condition is limited by the prior publication of technical solutions which have same purpose and where there is prior use in Azerbaijan only.
Exceptions to protection: methods, substances, strains of microorganisms, cultures of plant and animal cells and their use for new purposes.
Examination: a two-step formal examination. The first step is carried out a month after the filing and comprises checking the formal requirements. As a result of the formal examination, if all formal requirements are met, the Patent Office issues a decision to publish the application, or to reject it. The particulars of the application are published in the Patent Gazette.
Opposition: possible within a six-month term. A negative decision may be appealed to in front of the Patent Office Appeal Board.
Duration: ten years.
Extensions: are not provided by the law.