The technical content that conforms to the authorized object of the patent law shall be written into the prescribed file format in accordance with the requirements of the patent law and submitted to the Patent Office after complying with the prescribed language description rules. If the patent office finds no inconsistency in the review, If a defect in the relevant patent regulations exists, patent rights will be granted on the request.
For specific procedures, please refer to the relevant webpage of the Patent Office.
Of course, as far as the current overall patent quality is concerned, there is often a difference between the actual protection scope of the patent right and the protection scope expected by the patentee, and sometimes the review will be very different. Therefore, if you want effective patent protection, you still need to entrust a formal patent agent with considerable patent business processing skills to handle patent business on your behalf.
For information about regular patent agents, please refer to the relevant webpages of the Patent Office. 1. Filling in and writing patent application documents
There are specific requirements for filling in and writing patent application documents. Applicants can fill in or write them by themselves, or they can entrust a patent agency to do it for them. Although it is not compulsory to appoint a patent agent, considering the importance of carefully drafting patent application documents and the legal rigor of the approval process, it is worth promoting for inexperienced applicants.
2. Acceptance of patent applications
After the Patent Office Acceptance Office or each patent office agency receives a patent application, for applications that meet the acceptance conditions, the application date will be determined and the application will be processed. No., a notice of acceptance is issued.
3. How to pay the application fee
The application fee and other fees can be paid directly to the Patent Office Charge Office or the Patent Office Agency, or remitted through a bank or post office. Currently, banks use electronic transfers and post offices use electronic remittance. When the payer pays the patent fee through the post office or bank, the correct application number or patent number should be written on the money order, and the abbreviation of the name for which the fee is paid should be used. The remitter should ask the bank or post office staff to enter the above payment information in the remittance postscript. If the remittance is made through the post office, the remitter should also ask the post office staff to enter the complete mailing address, including postal code. This information will be important in subsequent procedures. Functional. Fees may not be sent to the Patent Office Reception Office.
4. Time for payment of application fee
If the patent application documents are submitted in person, the application fee can be paid after receiving the acceptance notice and the application fee payment notice. If the application is submitted by mail, the application fee should be paid after receiving the acceptance notice and the application fee payment notice, because the corresponding application number needs to be stated when paying the application fee, but the date for payment of the application fee must not be later than the date of the application. Two months from date.
5. Patent approval process
According to the Patent Law, the approval process for invention patent applications includes five stages: acceptance, preliminary examination, publication, substantive examination and authorization. Utility model or design patent applications are not subject to publication and substantive examination during approval, but only three stages: acceptance, preliminary examination and authorization.
6. Active modification and correction of patent application documents
Active modification and correction of patent application documents is also a procedure that applicants can choose as needed. Applications for utility model and design patents are only allowed to make active amendments within two months from the filing date; applications for invention patents are only allowed when a request for substantive examination is made and after receiving a notice from the Patent Office that the invention patent application has entered the substantive examination stage. Actively modify the patent application documents within three months from the date of application.
7. Reply to various notices from the Patent Office
(1) Comply with the response deadline. The consequences of late response and non-response are the same. Respond to the issues pointed out in the examination opinion notice one by one. The reply may indicate agreement with the examiner's opinion, and the applicant may make corrections or modify the application in accordance with the examination opinion; if it disagrees with the examiner's opinion, the opinion and reasons shall be stated.
(2) Defects in format or procedures can generally be eliminated through corrections; obvious substantive defects are generally difficult to eliminate through corrections or modifications. In most cases, only whether they exist or are obviously substantive defects can be eliminated. Defend and state opinions regarding deficiencies.
(3) Corrections or modifications to an invention or utility model patent application shall not exceed the scope of the original description and claims, and modifications to a design patent application shall not exceed the scope of the original pictures or photos. . Modified documents should submit replacement pages in the prescribed format.
(4) The reply should submit documents in the prescribed format. Such as submitting an amendment or statement of opinion. Generally, a correction letter is used to correct formal issues or procedural issues, and a statement of opinion is used to amend the substantive content of the application. If the applicant disagrees with the examiner's opinion, a statement of opinion is used when making a defense.
8. Patent application deemed withdrawn and its restoration
If the required procedures are not completed within the time limit, the application will be deemed withdrawn, and the Patent Office will issue a deemed withdrawal notice. If the applicant has legitimate reasons, he may request the Patent Office to restore his rights within two months from the date of receipt of the deemed withdrawal notice and explain the reasons. To request the restoration of rights, a "Request for Restoration of Rights" should be submitted, explaining the legitimate reasons for delaying the time limit, paying the restoration fee, and completing various uncompleted procedures that should be completed. The re-application procedures and repayment of fees should generally be completed within the above two months.
9. Go through the patent registration procedures
After preliminary examination of utility model and design patent applications, and substantive examination of invention patent applications, if no reason for rejection is found, the Patent Office will issue an authorization Notice and registration formalities notice. After receiving the authorization notice and registration formalities notice, the applicant shall complete the registration formalities and pay the prescribed fees within two months in accordance with the requirements of the notice. If the registration procedures are completed and the prescribed fees are paid within the time limit, the Patent Office will grant the patent right, issue a patent certificate, record it in the patent register, and announce it in the Patent Gazette. The patent right will take effect from the date of announcement. Failure to complete registration procedures within the prescribed time limit shall be deemed to have given up the right to obtain patent rights.
10. Fees payable for registration procedures
When going through registration procedures, there is no need to submit any documents. The applicant only needs to pay the patent registration fee (including announcement printing fees) as required. When applying for authorization of an invention patent, if it is more than two years from the application date, an application maintenance fee must also be paid. The corresponding fees shall be paid in the year specified in the registration notice in the year of authorization.
11. Maintenance of patent rights
After a patent application is granted a patent right, the patentee shall prepay the annual fee for the next year one month before the expiration of each year. If the annual fee is not paid or is not fully paid at the end of the period, the Patent Office will issue a payment notice and notify the patentee to pay the annual fee within six months from the expiration date and pay a late payment fee at the same time. The amount of the late payment fee is calculated as an additional 5% of the full annual fee for that year for each month beyond the prescribed payment time; if the payment is not made at the end of the period or the amount paid is insufficient, the patent right shall be terminated from the date of expiration of the annual fee payable.
12. Termination of patent rights
The termination of patent rights can be divided into:
(1) Termination upon expiration of term: invention patent rights The patent right shall be maintained for 20 years from the date of application. The patent right for utility model or design shall be maintained for 10 years from the date of application and shall be terminated in accordance with the law;
(2) Termination for non-payment of fees: The Patent Office shall issue a payment notice to notify the application After the applicant has paid the annual fee and late fee, if the applicant still fails to pay or fully pays the annual fee and late fee, the patent right shall be terminated from the expiration date of the previous year.
13. Invalidity of patent rights
From the date of authorization of a patent application, if any unit or individual believes that the grant of the patent right does not comply with the relevant provisions of the Patent Law, it may request a declaration that the patent right shall be granted. The patent is invalid. If you request to declare a patent right invalid or partially invalid, you must pay the fee in accordance with the regulations, submit a request for invalidation in duplicate, indicate the name and patent number of the patent requested to be invalidated, indicate the facts and reasons based on it, and attach the necessary evidence. . If any party is dissatisfied with the decision on a patent invalidation request, it may file a lawsuit with the People's Court within three months from the date of receipt of the notice. The Patent Office will register and announce the decision after it becomes legally effective. A patent right declared invalid is deemed to have ceased to exist from the beginning. According to the Patent Law, the approval process for invention patent applications is divided into five stages: acceptance, preliminary examination, publication, substantive examination and authorization:
(1) Acceptance stage
The Patent Office receives the patent After the application is reviewed, if the acceptance conditions are met, the Patent Office will determine the filing date, give the application number, and after verifying the document list, issue an acceptance notice to notify the applicant.
If the application documents are not typed, printed or illegible, or have been altered; or the drawings and pictures are not drawn with drawing tools and black ink, and the photos are blurred or altered; or the application documents are incomplete; or the request is missing If the name and address of the applicant are unknown; or if the patent application category is unclear or cannot be determined, and patent applications submitted directly by foreign entities and individuals without a foreign-related patent agency, they will not be accepted.
(2) Preliminary examination stage
If an accepted patent application pays the application fee in accordance with regulations, it will automatically enter the preliminary examination stage. Before the preliminary examination, the invention patent application must first undergo a confidentiality review. If confidentiality is required, it shall be handled according to confidentiality procedures.
In the preliminary examination, it is necessary to examine whether there are obvious defects in the application, mainly including whether the content of the examination falls within the scope of not granting patent rights in the Patent Law, whether there is an obvious lack of technical content that cannot constitute a technical solution, and whether there is a lack of Uniformity, whether the application documents are complete and the format meets the requirements. If you are a foreign applicant, you will also need to undergo a qualification review and application procedures review. If the application is unqualified, the Patent Office will notify the applicant to make corrections or state opinions within the prescribed time limit. If the applicant fails to respond within the time limit, the application will be deemed to have been withdrawn. If the defect has not been eliminated after the reply, it shall be rejected. If the invention patent application passes the preliminary examination, a preliminary examination passing notice will be issued. For utility model and design patent applications, in addition to the above review, it is also necessary to review whether they are obviously the same as existing patents and are not a new technical solution or new design. If no reason for rejection is found after the preliminary examination. Will go directly to the authorization order.
(3) Publication stage
The invention patent application enters the publication stage from the issuance of the preliminary examination qualification notice. If the applicant does not make a request for early disclosure, it must wait until 18 years have passed since the filing date. It took months to enter the public preparation process. If the applicant requests early disclosure, the application will immediately enter the disclosure preparation process. After format review, editing and proofreading, computer processing, typesetting and printing, the summary of the specification will be published in the Patent Gazette about three months later and a separate specification will be published. After the application is published, the applicant obtains the right to temporary protection.
(4) Substantive examination stage
After the invention patent application is published, if the applicant has submitted a substantive examination request and it has taken effect, the applicant will enter the substantive examination procedure. If the applicant has not submitted a request for substantive examination within three years from the date of application, or the request for substantive examination has not taken effect, the application will be deemed to have been withdrawn.
During the actual examination, a comprehensive review will be conducted on whether the patent application has novelty, creativity, practicality and other substantive conditions stipulated in the patent law. If upon review it is determined that the authorization conditions are not met or there are various deficiencies, the applicant will be notified to state their opinions or make modifications within the specified time. If no reply is made within the time limit, the application will be deemed to have been withdrawn. The application still does not meet the requirements after multiple replies. , be dismissed. The actual review period is long. If authorization has not been granted within two years from the date of application, the application maintenance fee must be paid every year from the third year. If it is not paid within the time limit, the application will be deemed to have been withdrawn.
If no reason for rejection is found during the substantive examination, the authorization procedure will be entered in accordance with regulations.
(5) Authorization stage
After preliminary examination of utility model and design patent applications and substantive examination of invention patent applications, if no reason for rejection is found, the examiner shall issue an authorization notice and apply for After entering into preparations for authorization registration, after reviewing the legal validity and completeness of the authorization text, and proofreading and revising the bibliographic items of the patent application, the Patent Office issues an authorization notice and a registration formalities notice. After receiving the notice, the applicant shall If you complete the registration procedures and pay the prescribed fees in accordance with the requirements of the notice within 2 months, and complete the registration procedures on time, the Patent Office will grant the patent right, issue a patent certificate, record it in the patent register, and register it in the patent registration book after 2 months. It is announced in the Patent Gazette that failure to complete registration procedures as required will be deemed to have given up the right to obtain patent rights.