The three kinds of patents stipulated in the patent law include: invention patent, utility model patent and design patent. Different from other countries' legislative models for three types of patents, China has stipulated utility model patents, design patents and invention patents in the same law. Although the three kinds of patents have their own characteristics and application conditions, they are also protected by intellectual property rights in China. Among them, the application for a patent for invention is subject to the strictest examination and the principle of substantive examination, which not only examines the form of the invention patent, but also conducts a substantive and comprehensive examination of the content. For applications for utility model patents and design patents, the principle of preliminary examination shall be adopted. When granting the patent right, the Intellectual Property Office will only conduct a formal review of these two patent applications, and only those patents without substantive and obvious defects can be approved.
Legal basis:
People's Republic of China (PRC) Patent Law Article 2 Invention-creation as mentioned in this Law refers to inventions, utility models and designs. Invention refers to a new technical scheme proposed for a product, method or its improvement. Utility model refers to a new practical technical scheme for the shape, structure or combination of products. Appearance design refers to a new design with aesthetic feeling and suitable for industrial application based on the shape, pattern or combination of products and the combination of colors, shapes and patterns.