Legal analysis: Generally speaking, it takes about three years to apply for a patent for an invention. Invention patents will generally be published after 18 months from the date of application. If the real test is put forward after it is made public, it will generally be authorized after the second pass, which will take more than two years. In short, it depends on the specific case and the examiner. The law does not limit the examination time, but only the applicant's defense time (four months for one pass, two months for the second pass and two months thereafter). You can also apply publicly in advance for a real trial, which will be faster, but the authorization will not be earlier than 18 months at the earliest. Even if the internal audit is completed within 18 months, the authorization will wait until 18 months, because the problem of application conflict will be considered. In addition, the invention patent is not protected before publication, that is, it will not be infringed by others from the date of application to the date of publication; It is temporary protection from the date of publication to the date of authorization, which can be traced back after authorization, that is, if there is no authorization in the end, the application will not be protected; Only after authorization can we get real protection. Therefore, it is not accepted or protected.
Legal basis: Article 34 of the Patent Law of People's Republic of China (PRC). After receiving an application for a patent for invention, the administrative department for patent in the State Council, after preliminary examination, finds that it conforms to the provisions of this Law, and shall publish it within 18 months from the date of application. The patent administration department of the State Council may publish its application at an early date upon the request of the applicant.