Invalidation of registration

A registered utility model is often monitored by other companies, since the utility model can restrict their businesses. Anyone can try to invalidate a utility model at any time by lodging an invalidation claim against it. The invalidation claim can also be lodged after the registration has expired.
This page contains more information about invalidation. Click on the links below to go further down the page:

Grounds for invalidation

You can only lodge an invalidation claim on the following grounds laid down in section 19 of the Finnish Act on Utility Model Rights:

The invention is not new. Read more about how to determine the novelty of your invention.
The invention lacks the required inventiveness, meaning that it is not clearly different from previously known inventions.
The description of the invention is not sufficiently clear to enable a person skilled in the art to use the invention.
The utility model contains something that was not included in the original application.
A patent application has been converted to a utility model application contrary to the law.
The claims of the utility model have been extended after the registration.
The invention does not meet the basic requirements laid down in section 1 of the Act on Utility Model Rights, meaning that a utility model right cannot be granted for the invention.

How to lodge an invalidation claim

You can lodge an invalidation claim any time after the utility model has been registered. To find out if a utility model has been registered, use our Patent Information Service or see the Utility Model Gazette, where all new utility models are published.

Go to Patent Information Service.Open link in a new tab
Go to the Utility Model Gazette.Open link in a new tab

File your invalidation claim as a free-form letter with enclosures written in Finnish or Swedish. Remember to give your grounds for the claim and send it to us.

The invalidation claim is subject to a fee. You can see the fee in our price list under “Other fees”. Go to our price list and payment instructions for utility models.

Reasons for not processing a claim

We will not process your invalidation claim if:

you have not paid the fee
the invalidation claim does not clearly state which utility model it is lodged against
the invalidation claim does not clearly state who has made it
you have not given grounds for the invalidation claim
a dispute on transferring the registration is pending

Processing procedure

We will send the invalidation claim to the owner of the utility model, who has to respond within three months.

The owner of the utility model can restrict the claims if they consider it necessary due to the invalidation claim. Read more about the claims.

If the utility model owner does not object to the invalidation claim, we will declare the registration invalid.

If the utility model owner does object to the invalidation claim, we will send their response to the party who lodged the claim. The party who lodged the claim must, in turn, give their statement about the owner’s response within two months.

We will forward the statement to the utility model owner, who must give their response within two months.

Finally, we will forward the owner’s response to the party who lodged the claim, but this time without a deadline to respond.

Please note that correspondence is always used when processing invalidation claims. An oral hearing is not possible.

If the utility model owner objects to the invalidation claim, we will only examine the material presented by the party who lodged the claim. If the owner files new claims, we will examine the invalidation claim based on the new set of claims. We will not carry out a separate search.

Final decision

When the correspondence on the invalidation claim has ended, we will decide whether the utility model is:

kept in force unchanged,
declared partially invalid, if the registration remains valid as defined in the revised claims, or
declared completely invalid.

If we declare the registration of your utility model invalid, you can appeal against the invalidation to the Finnish Market Court within 60 days of receiving the decision.

If we keep the utility model in force unchanged, the party who lodged the invalidation claim has the right to appeal.

If we declare the utility model partially invalid, both parties have the right to appeal against the decision.

Go to the website of the Finnish Market Court.

Read our instructions on how to appeal against our decisions.

Printable version Latest update 03.04.2023