Key Performance Indicators for Utility Model Systems: An Application to Finland

Abstract

The design and functioning of patent systems have been evaluated empirically for a long time thanks to increasingly accessible patent data and statistics, but much less is known about the functioning of utility model systems (or more generally second-tier patent systems) and their interaction with patent systems. Both patents and utility models are protection methods for technical inventions, but the latter is often considered to be a flexible complement to the patent system that offers protection particularly for small and incremental inventions that have shorter lifecycles and for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) that have fewer resources to invest in patent protection. Generally, there exists very little systematic empirical evidence on the benefits and positive impacts of national utility model systems, particularly in advanced economies. Hence, the fundamental question remains whether societies are better off with or without utility model systems that bring flexibilities to the more harmonized patent systems.