Right of priority of utility models

HEARTZ Tools is a Portuguese SME in the health sector. In 2018, the company was granted a patent in Portugal for a patient monitoring system that incorporates a range of sensors attached to the patient, linked to a mobile device.

 Building on this, HEARTZ filed a utility model application in 2020, also in Portugal, for “SENSORLIFE,” a device designed to monitor a user’s health status. While they intended in the future to extend protection to other European countries and Mexico, they overlooked filing for protection in key markets such as France, Germany, and Mexico within the 12 month Right of Priority time frame. 

Unsure how to navigate their IPRs, in 2023, the Director of HEARTZ reached out to the Helpdesk to ask for guidance.