Requirements For Grant
Most countries having utility model laws require that the invention be new. However, many patent or utility model offices do not conduct substantive examination and merely grant the utility model after checking that utility model applications comply with formalities. Some countries exclude particular subject matter from utility model protection. For example, methods, plants and animals are normally barred from utility model protection.
In Germany a utility model is considered to be new if it does not form part of the state of the art. The state of the art comprises any knowledge made available to the public by means of a written description or by use within Germany before the date relevant for the priority of the application. Description or use within the six months preceding the date relevant for the priority of the application shall not be taken into consideration if it is based on the conception of the applicant or his predecessor in title.
In Spain, the novelty requirement for obtaining a utility model (Spanish: modelo de utilidad) is "relative", i.e. only public written disclosure of the invention in Spain is prejudicial against the novelty of the invention claimed in the utility model. This is in sharp contrast with Spanish patents for which absolute novelty is required. What constitutes a "disclosure of the invention in Spain" has been the subject of two decisions of the Spanish Supreme Court, in 1996 and 2004.
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