Portugal is a member country of the most important international conventions regarding intellectual property rights: Paris Convention (1883), Stockholm Act (1967); The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirements of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille) (1961); Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) (1967); Strasbourg Agreement concerning the International Patent Classification (accession 1971); European Patent Convention, since 1992; Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), since 1992; WTO/TRIPs Agreement (1994) and Budapest Treaty since 1997. Besides, as member state of the European Union, Portugal applies all the regulations, together with all international treaties.

Portugal adopted the system “first to file” for the Industrial Property rights.

In Portugal, the improvement of the system of measures against import or export of counterfeit goods is growing with great results, in recent years.

Invention

Portugal is a signatory of the European Patent Convention in Munich and also of the Patent Cooperation International Treaty (only available for the contracting States of the Paris Convention) that aims to facilitate the request, research and examination of Patent applications.

The requirements that an invention must comply to be considerably patentable are as follows: The inventions must be new inventions, involving an inventive step, and capable of industrial application.

There are two different types of industrial property protection for inventions in Portugal: • As Patent - whether relating to new products as to new procedures, as well as for new process for obtaining products, substances or compounds which already exists.

The protection is for 20 years, counting from the application date, with the possibility of extension in the CCPM (Supplementary Protection Certificates for medicines) which cannot exceed 5 years.

A Patent can be filed as a Portuguese nationals' application, as an European patent application or under the Patent Cooperation Treaty. • As Utility Model - The Utility Models seek the protection of an invention through an administrative procedure much more simplified and faster by comparison with the patent. A lower level of demand in relation with the inventive activity has led to a smaller period of protection (6 years counting from the application date, and can be deferred for 2 periods of two years each, until the maximum duration of 10) and a non-compulsory examination. This type of protection is not available for inventions dealing with biological materials or chemicals and pharmaceutical substances or the processes.

Trademark

In Portugal, the prior registration and application rule is applicable to trade mark, and the Trade/Service Mark protection is for 10 years, renewed by equal periods of 10 years without limitation and the renewal must be made 6 months before expiration.

A registration of trademarks is subjected to cancellation if the application was filed in bad faith or if the mark was barred from registration on absolute grounds, such as lack of distinctiveness.

The application of a Trade/Service Mark can be filed as:  1. National Portuguese trademark (valid in Portuguese territory). 2. International trademark (valid for the designated countries). 3. Community trademark (valid for all European Community countries).

Many progresses have been achieved in fish trip for the crimes of counterfeit, imitation and illegal use of the trademark. So Portugal, actually, is a better place to introduce products. Between 2006 and 2009, the Portuguese Authority for Economic and Food Security (ASAE) has apprehended counterfeit products in the amount of more than 11 millions euros.

Model / Design

According to the Portuguese law, a Design/Model designates the total or partial appearance of a product resulting from its characteristics and features, such as line, profile, color, shape, texture or the material of the product and its decoration and  any industrial or handmade article. can be designated as product.

The requirements for the grant of a design are as follows: Individual character, Novelty and it must be visible during daily utilization.

In Portugal, there is also previous application for registration, which is a mechanism for protecting textile and clothing designs and models with the duration of 6 months and it confers, in Portugal, the priority right for eventual future design and model application.

There are two options for protecting designs/models: • Registered - It is a protection submitted to an examination, conferring major juridical guarantee and has a longer duration (protected for quinquenniums to be renewed for a maximum limit of 25 years). • Non-Registered - To offer a provisional registration protection to industrial designs and models with the term of protection is 6 years.

The application of a Model/Design may be filed as: 1. National Design or Model (valid in Portuguese territory). 2. Community Design and Model (valid for all European Community countries).

Domain Name

The Top Domain Name which identifies Portugal is the “.pt” domain name and there are assistant domain names as “.net.pt”, “publ.pt”, “edu.pt”, “int.pt”, “gov.pt”, “nome.pt” and “com.pt” can be registered in Portugal.

To register the domain name “.pt” applicants must have an applicant’s distinctive trade name, or a registered nominative trademark can be accepted as base for a ".pt" registry. The registration process of assistant domain name is simplified.

There has been adopted in Portugal the Arbitration as a means to solve conflicts between domain names.

Copyright

It is through copyright and connected right that the intellectual creations in the literary, artistic or scientific fields are protected, that are somewhat expressed beyond the author’s rights. It includes the works and creations from the spirit that do not benefit from other special rulings.

The mere creation work is automatically protected by copyright and it is not necessary to fulfil any legal formalities, in accordance with the Berne Convention.

Copyright and connected rights distinguish two types of different rights: • Moral rights - Inalienable, non-transmissible and non-renounced, the right to the work always belonging to the author. • Patrimonial rights – They may by contract or by the work in question be attributed to another entity rather than the moral author’s work.

To be registered, the copyright must be filed and it is only required that the masterpiece is original and liable of reproduction to be object of an application.

The copyright confers (in lack of special resolution) 70 years of protection after the author’s death.

Other Signs

Besides the above protection rights, other rights can be protected in Portugal as well, Logotypes, Appellation of Origin and Geographical indications.

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