Argentine Legislation

We are specialist in local law relating to trade marks, patents, intellectual property and commercial companies. Here we present a summary of the Argentine law on the subject.

Utility Model Registration

A utility model in Argentine’s legislation refers to all new arrangement or shape form obtained or introduced in tools, instruments of work, utensils, known devices or objects of industrial nature, providing an improvement in the way an object functions.

An industrial design is the ornamental or aesthetic aspect of an article. The design may consist of threedimensional features, such as the shape or surface of
an article, or of two-dimensional features, such as patterns and lines.

Industrial designs are applied to a wide variety of products of industry and handicraft: from technical and medical instruments to watches, jewelry, and other luxury items; from housewares and electrical appliances to vehicles and architectural structures; from textile designs to leisure goods.

When an industrial design is protected, the owner – the person or entity that has registered the design – is assured an exclusive right against unauthorized vcopying or imitation of the design by third parties.
As a general rule, to be registrable, the design must be “new” or “original”. Different countries have varying definitions of such terms, as well as variations in the registration process itself.

The exclusive right granted by the certificate of the utility model is for a non-extendible period of 10 years, from the filing date and it is subject to the payment of the corresponding fees.