A novelty grace period of 6 months is available if:
- Disclosures caused at officially organized or officially sanctioned international exhibitions
- Disclosure resulting from being made public for reasons related to the misuse of the inventor or its predecessor owner
- via Paris Convention : 6 months from earliest priority date.
- Hague Agreement route: 6 months from earliest priority date.
- EU appearance route: 6 months from the earliest priority date.
yes. Before the applicant has received a final decision, an application to change the type of invention from a utility model to an invention may be proposed.
yes. Before the applicant receives the final decision, it may be proposed to change the type of invention from invention to utility model.
- yes. A maximum of 100 designs may be included in one Portuguese design application, provided they belong to the same class in the International Design Classification.
Reinstatement of priority is accepted on grounds of "due care."
The initial protection is 6 years, which can be extended twice, up to a maximum of 10 years.
no
3 months
INPI conducts formality examination and substantive examination of invention patent applications. Substantive examination begins automatically, without the need to file a separate request.
- via Paris Convention : 12 months from earliest priority date.
- via Nationalization of PCT : 30 months from the earliest priority date.
- Validation of European Patent in EPO member states: within 3 months from the date of granted of the European invention.