Utility Model applications will be examined, in accordance with article 4.1 of Royal Decree 441/1994, within ten days following receipt of the application at the SPTO offices, to ensure that it fulfils the requirements necessary to obtain a filing date (description; claims; applicant identification; applicant's signature and payment of the filing fees if fee exemption has not been requested).
The examination for acceptance for processing, according to the SPTO's commitment, will be performed within a period of three days, granting the filing date with effects from the first day if there are no objections, and continuing with the proceedings.
If, based on the examination performed, it is determined that the application does not meet the requirements to obtain a filing date, the applicant will be notified of the defects observed so that, within a period of ten days, they may be resolved. If this is not done, the application will be taken as waived.
If the defects in the application are corrected within the stipulated period, the filing date will be granted for the date on which the corrected document was filed at the authorised public offices. Correcting the failure to pay the fee will not modify the filing date.
If any objections arise, the date granting period, in accordance the above, will be extended by one month, an additional time which will be added to the SPTO deadline commitments established for the later procedures.
(made available to the public for the purposes of issuing oppositions to the granting).
Utility model protection applications which have obtained a filing date will be subjected to a formal, technical and category examination by the SPTO. Based on the date of acceptance for processing, in cases in which the formal, technical and category examination has detected defects, the application will be made available to the public by publication in the Official Industrial Property Gazette within a period of 4 months. If it had been suspended due to detecting defects in the formal examination, and they have been corrected by the applicant, the SPTO's commitment is to publish it in the Official Industrial Property Gazette within 7.5 months.
The Official Industrial Property Gazette (BOPI) will publish the bibliographic data, designs and claims so that any interested party may oppose the protection requested for the utility model within a period of 2 months, alleging the lack of any of the requirements needed for that award.
Said periods are only applied to applications that, at the time of the application examination, have complied with Law 11/1986: the Patents Act, and its executive regulation with regard to the filing of documentation. However, longer periods are assigned in those legal texts for compliance on the date the examination started (authorisation for the agent or representative; designation of the inventor; certificates of statements and priority, etc.).
By legal term of granting or refusal, the maximum resolution period is established in the Second Additional Provision of Law 11/1986, dated 20 March: the Patents Act. These periods will be calculated from the date of acceptance for processing.
