Patents and utility models are industrial property rights that are granted for the exclusive use of inventions (new solutions for specific technical problems).

In other words, they may be seen as a contract between the State and the applicant by which the latter acquires the exclusive right to produce and sell an invention, in exchange for fully disclosing the invention to the public.

Inventions can be protected by means of two types of industrial property rights:

• Patents;
• Utility models

Patents can be granted to any type of invention in any field of technology, whether it is a product or a process, as well as for new processes for obtaining products, substances or compounds which already exist.