Utility models

The application for registration of a utility model in the Register shall be submitted in a single copy, as a rule, on a form issued by the Office, which is available on the website and at the Registry of the Office.

The description of the technical solution must include:

1. the name of the technical solution as it appears in the application for registration of the utility model. The title shall be concise and precise and should not contain more than 10 words;
2. the field of technology to which the technical solution relates;
3. a description of the state of the art, indicating the documents from which this state of the art is derived;
4. an explanation of the substance of the technical solution defined in the claims. This explanation should be sufficient to understand the technical problem and its solution. At the same time, the advantages or disadvantages of the technical solution in relation to the prior art should be pointed out. The same terms should be used to explain the substance of the technical solution as in the claims;
5. a brief description of the figures shown in the drawings (if included in the application);description of sections, views, diagrams;
6. at least one example of an embodiment of the technical solution. The number and type of examples should be chosen in such a way that the examples help to explain the technical solution in more detail and demonstrate the feasibility of the technical solution. It is desirable that the examples sufficiently cover the scope of protection implied by the claims for protection. Where the utility model application contains drawings, the description shall indicate in this part of the description, for each feature, the relation marks by which those features are indicated in the drawing. As a rule, Arabic numerals are used as relation marks; if there are more than one, it is advisable to include a list of them on a separate sheet. Relation marks shall not be underlined and shall be given in the description without brackets;
7. the industrial application of the technical solution, if this is not apparent from the preceding parts of the description.

The individual parts of the description of the technical solution which follow the title of the technical solution shall be indicated by headings: Field of the art, State of the art, Nature of the technical solution, Overview of the figures in the drawings, Examples of implementation, Industrial applicability. The headings shall be given from the left margin above the body of the text with a single line space.

Specific requirements for the description of certain types of technical solutions

1. Where the technical solution concerns mechanical mixtures, these mixtures shall (as far as possible) be characterised in the description by the qualitative and quantitative properties of their individual components.
2. Where the technical solution relates to products obtained by physico-chemical means, these products are to be characterised in the description by the composition and content of the individual components and, where appropriate, by their physical structure.
3. Where the technical solution relates to specific chemical compounds, including high molecular weight compounds, these compounds are to be defined in the description by the name of the compound according to the applicable chemical nomenclature, by the structural formula of the compound, or by a general formula.
4. Where the invention relates to products obtained by the transformation of the atomic nucleus by artificially induced nuclear reactions, these products are to be characterised in the description by the properties necessary for their unambiguous identification.

The part of the utility model application containing the claims for protection shall begin on a separate sheet marked CLAIMS FOR PROTECTION.

The subject matter for which protection is claimed shall be defined in at least one claim by the technical features of the solution. The technical features of the solution are, for example, the structural elements of the device and their interconnection in a static state, the qualitative and quantitative composition of the mixture, the structural formula of the chemical compound, etc. If the nature of the technical solution does not preclude it, the claims for protection must include:

an introductory part containing the title of the technical solution or part of the title of the technical solution and the technical features which are necessary to define the technical solution and which, in combination, are part of the state of the art; and

a significant part, beginning with the words 'characterised in that', containing the technical features for which protection is sought in conjunction with the features set out in the introductory part.

The application must comply with the condition of unity, i.e. the application must contain only one technical solution or group of technical solutions which are linked together in such a way as to form a single technical idea. Where the condition of unity is satisfied, the utility model application may contain several independent claims for protection. Each independent claim may be supplemented by claims defining specific or advantageous embodiments of the technical solution (dependent claims).

A dependent claim contains all the features of any earlier claim, referring, where possible in the introductory part, to that earlier claim and defining in the operative part additional (specific or advantageous) features of the technical solution. A dependent claim which refers to another earlier dependent claim is also permissible. All dependent claims that refer to a prior claim or to several prior claims must be set out in a logical order.

Claims for protection may not contain references to descriptions or drawings; this shall not apply where the inclusion of references to descriptions or drawings is necessary to ensure the clarity of the claim. For example, references to 'as written in the description' or 'as shown in the figure' are inappropriate.

In claims for protection, the technical features shown and indicated in the drawings by reference marks shall be indicated with those reference marks. Relation marks shall be indicated in round brackets in the claims.

Each claim for protection shall be expressed in one sentence.

The area used on the drawing sheets shall not exceed 26,2 x 17 cm. The used or usable area of the drawings shall not be framed. The margins of the drawings shall be at least

• 2,5 cm from the top edge of the drawing,
• 2,5 cm from the left edge of the drawing,
• 1,5 cm from the right edge of the drawing, and
• 1 cm from the bottom edge of the drawing.

The figures on the drawings shall be drawn in durable black, saturated, uniformly thick and distinct lines, without the use of other colours or shading. Sections in the drawing shall be indicated by hatching which does not reduce the legibility of the relationship marks and plotting lines. The scale of the figures and their graphic design must be such that electronic or photographic reproduction at two-thirds linear reduction makes it possible to discern the details. If a scale is indicated on the drawing, it shall be shown graphically. Numbers, letters and relationship marks on drawings shall be simple and clear. Brackets, circles and quotation marks shall not be used in conjunction with numbers or letters. The height of numbers and letters on drawings shall not be less than 0,32 cm. Letters must be in the Latin alphabet and, if usual, may also be in the Greek alphabet.

One side of a drawing may contain more than one figure. If the figures on several sheets represent a single figure, they must be so arranged that they can be made into a complete figure without obscuring any part of the sub-figures. The figures shall be numbered in ascending Arabic numerals independently of the pagination of the drawing.

Relative symbols used in the drawing shall be explained in the caption.

Drawings shall not contain text. This does not apply if they are short key words necessary to understand the drawing, such as 'water', 'steam', 'open', 'closed', 'section A-A', or words used in electrical circuits and block diagrams or flow charts.

The annotation shall include the title of the technical solution and a brief summary of what is stated in the description of the technical solution, in the claims for protection or in the drawings. The annotation must indicate the field of technology to which the technical solution relates and must be drafted in such a way as to enable the technical problem to be understood, the nature of the technical solution to be solved by the technical solution, and the basic possibilities of using the technical solution.

The annotation shall be on a separate sheet and shall be as brief as the nature of the technical solution permits and shall not exceed 150 words.

Where drawings are included in the application, the applicant may indicate the figure which best characterises the technical solution and which is to be published with the annotation. The technical features of the solution referred to in the annotation and shown in the figure to be published with the annotation must be followed in round brackets by the relevant reference marks. The figure which best characterises the technical solution to be published with the annotation must be submitted on a separate sheet.

The application shall not contain expressions or images which are contrary to public policy or good morals or which disparage the products or processes of other persons or the substance or value of the applications or protected technical solutions of such persons.

The application must be submitted in a form which permits direct electronic reproduction, free from tears, creases and folds. The application must be submitted on A4 paper which is flexible, strong, white, smooth, matt and durable. The pages of the application must be oriented portrait. Landscape orientation is acceptable only if the pages contain only figures or tables which do not fit in portrait orientation.
Each part of the utility model application (application for registration, description, claims, drawings and annotation) must begin on a new page. The margins of the pages of the application, excluding the pages of the application for registration and the drawings, must be at least

2 cm from the top edge of the page,
2,5 cm from the left edge of the page,
2 cm from the right edge of the page, and
2 cm from the bottom edge of the page.

The pages of the application containing the description, the claims, the drawings and the annotation shall be numbered in ascending Arabic numerals and the page numbers shall be indicated in the centre of the lower edge of the page. The pages of the application for registration shall not be numbered.

Values of physical quantities shall be expressed in the application in legal units of measurement or in accordance with international convention. Only terms, formulae, signs and symbols which are generally accepted in the field are to be used in the application. Terminology and relationship marks shall be uniform throughout the application. Relation marks shall not be underlined; in the annotation and in the claims, relation marks shall be indicated in round brackets; in other parts of the application, relation marks shall be indicated without brackets. Stamps, stickers, barcodes and other indications which are not related to the content of the application may not be used in the application.Where nucleotide or amino acid sequences covered by WIPO Standard ST.26 (WIPO ST.26) are cited in the application, a list of these sequences, which forms part of the description, shall be drawn up in accordance with that Standard and shall be provided in a separate electronic file. The WIPO Sequence software tool, which is available for download at https://www.wipo.int/standards/en/sequence/index.html, can be used to produce the list of nucleotide and/or amino acid sequences as an XML file in accordance with that standard.

The application must be in Courier New, Tahoma or Times New Roman fonts. The font size must be between 12 and 14 point and all characters in one paragraph of the text section must be the same font size. Italics, bold, superscript and subscript must not be used when writing the text. Text must not be indented, underlined or justified. These requirements do not apply to images, graphic symbols, symbols, signs, chemical formulae and mathematical formulae which are part of the application.

The application must be drawn up in black ink and in 1,5 lines.

If tables are included in the application, they must be bordered by solid lines at least 1,5 points thick. Tables must use a white background.

In drawing up the application documents for a utility model application, it is recommended that the recommendations of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Standard ST.22, which relates to the adaptation of applications in order to facilitate their processing by optical character recognition, be followed as far as possible. The original text of Standard ST.22 is available on the WIPO website and its Slovak translation on the Office's website.

Date of last revision of the text: January 2019

As an example for the preparation of a utility model application, it is possible to use the following vzor.