After a patent application is granted a patent right, an annual fee is required to maintain the validity of the patent right. The legislative purpose of the patent law originates from encouraging inventions and promoting scientific and technological progress, and the annual fee is consistent with the legislative purpose of the patent law, both of which are to continuously protect the legitimate rights and interests of the patentee from infringement.
Patent definition:
Patent refers to inventions protected by the patent law, that is, patented technology, which is a proprietary technology recognized by the state and protected by law on the basis of publicity.
The types of patents have different regulations in different countries. In China's patent law, there are: invention patent, utility model patent and design patent.
According to the Patent Law of People's Republic of China (PRC), inventions mentioned in this Law refer 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 technical scheme suitable for practical use for the shape, structure or combination of products.
Appearance design refers to a new design that is aesthetically pleasing and suitable for industrial application, which is made on the shape, pattern or their combination of products and all or part of the combination of colors, shapes and patterns.
Patent application process:
1. Acceptance by the Patent Office. To apply for a patent, the applicant shall first submit a patent application to China National Intellectual Property Administration, submit the necessary application documents when submitting the patent application, and pay the relevant fees in accordance with the regulations. After the applicant submits a patent application, the Patent Office determines the date of the patent application, gives the application number and issues a notice of acceptance.
2. Preliminary review. After accepting the application, the Patent Office will conduct a preliminary examination of the patent application. After passing the preliminary examination, it will be released within 18 months from the date of application.
3. Announcement stage. The application for a patent for invention has entered the publication stage since the issuance of the notice of preliminary examination. If the applicant does not make a request for early publication, it will not enter the public preparation procedure until 18 months after the application date. If the applicant requests to be made public in advance, the application will immediately enter the public preparation procedure. After layout review, editing and proofreading, computer processing, typesetting and printing.
4. Substantive review. If it passes the substantive examination, the Patent Office will grant the patent right for the utility model or design; If it is unqualified, the applicant shall modify the application documents accordingly, grant the patent right to the qualified one, and reject the patent application to the unqualified one.
5. Grant a patent right. The applicant needs to go through the registration formalities after receiving the notice of granting the patent right. The applicant shall pay the patent registration fee, annual fee and announcement printing fee within the prescribed time limit, and pay the stamp duty on the patent certificate. The applicant can only obtain the patent certificate after going through the registration formalities.
Legal basis:
Article 2 of the Patent Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) (revised in 2020) stipulates:
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 that is aesthetically pleasing and suitable for industrial application, which is made on the shape, pattern or their combination of products and all or part of the combination of colors, shapes and patterns.
Article 10 of the Patent Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) (revised in 2020) stipulates:
The right to apply for a patent and the patent right can be transferred.
Where a unit or individual in China transfers the right to apply for a patent or the patent right to a foreigner, foreign enterprise or other foreign organization, it shall go through the formalities in accordance with the provisions of relevant laws and administrative regulations.
Where the right to apply for a patent or the patent right is transferred, the parties concerned shall conclude a written contract and register it with the patent administration department of the State Council, which shall make an announcement. The transfer of the right to apply for a patent or the patent right shall take effect from the date of registration.
Article 15 of the Patent Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) (revised in 2020) stipulates:
The unit that has been granted the patent right shall reward the inventor or designer of the service invention-creation; After the patent for invention-creation is implemented, the inventor or designer shall be given reasonable remuneration according to the scope of its popularization and application and the economic benefits obtained.
The state encourages units that have been granted patent rights to implement property rights incentives by means of equity, options and dividends. , so that inventors or designers can share the benefits of innovation reasonably.