Utility Models in Iran: A Guide to the New Protection Under the 2024 Industrial Property Protection Act

By Shahnoosh Haeri

 

Iran’s Industrial Property Protection Act (2024) introduces a form of protection that is new to Iran but long established elsewhere: the utility model. For foreign IP counsel and in-house teams managing Iranian portfolios, it opens a faster, lower-cost route to protecting incremental innovation. This guide explains what a utility model is in Iran, how it differs from a patent, how it is examined, how long it lasts, and whether it can be applied for yet.

Why Iran now recognizes utility models

Every IP practitioner knows the scenario. A client arrives with a genuine technical improvement — something new, industrially useful, and commercially promising — and files for a patent in the belief that it qualifies. After a long wait, the office rejects the claims, in whole or in part, for lack of inventive step: the solution, though new, would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the field and produces no surprising result that advances the art. The improvement is real, but it is not an invention in the patent sense. This is precisely the gap the utility model is meant to fill.

What is a utility model in Iran?

A utility model rests, like a patent, on a new and practical solution to a technical problem. The difference is threefold. The solution must concern the shape or structure of a product — utility models cover products, never processes; it need only improve the product’s function; and it need not be non-obvious. It is enough that a change or addition to the shape or structure of an existing product yields a new practical solution that works better. For this reason utility models are sometimes called “small, fast inventions.”

An example makes the line clear. Consider a camping tent, which must fold down to be carried. Suppose your innovation is a folding mechanism that opens and closes the tent at the press of a button or the pull of a lever — a technical solution that did not exist in the industry and that, being non-obvious, advances the prior art. That is an invention. But suppose instead that you reshape the poles and alter the angle of the joints so that they bend more easily and the tent folds more readily. You have not invented anything; you have created a utility model that improves how the tent folds.

How a utility model differs from a patent in Iran

Two features mark the boundary. First, like an industrial design, a utility model protects only products, not processes. Second, like a patent, it protects a new technical solution rather than mere appearance. The decisive difference is the threshold. A patent must be new, industrially applicable, and involve an inventive step — non-obvious to a skilled person. A utility model need only be new, industrially applicable, and improve a product’s function.

How are utility models examined, and how long does protection last?

Speed and simplicity are the point. A patent application undergoes both formal and substantive examination. A utility model application is examined as to form only, within two months, and is accepted if no conflicting prior registration exists.

The trade-off is duration: a patent may be protected for twenty years, a utility model for six. There is a second trade-off worth weighing. Because a utility model is granted without substantive examination, its validity stands on weaker ground than an examined patent’s — a consideration before relying on one in enforcement. This is a general feature of unexamined rights, not a peculiarity of Iranian law, but it is the price of the faster, cheaper route.

Can you file a patent and a utility model together? Parallel filing and conversion

Because the line between an invention and a utility model can be fine — and hard for an applicant to judge — the Act allows a patent application and a utility model application to be filed in parallel for the same subject matter. It also permits conversion in either direction. If you have filed for a patent, you may request conversion to a utility model application before examination concludes, or after the office decides to reject it. If you have filed for a utility model and believe the subject matter qualifies as an invention, you may request conversion to a patent application before the office rules on it.

One caution deserves emphasis. The six-month grace period available to a patent applicant — under which disclosure in the six months before filing does not defeat novelty — does not extend to utility models. For a utility model application, or a patent application converted into one, disclosure before filing can destroy novelty. Applicants and their counsel should treat pre-filing confidentiality as critical.

Is utility model protection available in Iran now?

Not yet. This guide was written in the interval between the passage of the Industrial Property Protection Act and the adoption of its implementing regulations. The Act takes a significant step: for the first time, Iranian law extends protection to this level of innovation. But until the implementing regulations are in force, utility model protection cannot yet be applied for. Foreign counsel weighing an Iranian filing strategy should confirm the current regulatory position before relying on the regime.

Frequently asked questions

What is a utility model in Iran? A utility model is a form of industrial property protection introduced by Iran’s Industrial Property Protection Act (2024). It protects a new, industrially applicable improvement to the shape or structure of a product that enhances its function, without requiring the inventive step a patent demands.

How does a utility model differ from a patent in Iran? A patent must be new, industrially applicable, and involve an inventive step (non-obvious to a skilled person). A utility model need only be new, industrially applicable, and improve a product’s function. Utility models also protect products only — never processes.

How long does utility model protection last in Iran? Six years, compared with twenty years for a patent.

How quickly can a utility model be registered in Iran? A utility model application is examined as to form only and, absent a conflicting prior registration, is processed within two months — far faster than a patent’s formal and substantive examination.

Is there a grace period for prior disclosure? No. Unlike the six-month grace period available to patent applicants, disclosure before filing can destroy the novelty of a utility model. Confidentiality before filing is essential.

Can I register a utility model in Iran today? Not yet. As at the time of writing, the Act’s implementing regulations had not been adopted, so applications could not be filed. Confirm the current position before planning a filing.