The substantive examination usually takes three years. According to the relevant laws and regulations, within three years from the date of application, the patent administrative department of the State Council may, at any time, make a substantive examination of the application upon the request of the applicant. And no reason for rejection is found, a patent certificate for invention shall be issued, and it shall be registered and announced at the same time.
Second, what is substantive examination?
Substantive examination means that the State Patent Office examines the novelty, creativity, practicality and other substantive contents of the invention-creation for which a patent is applied. Within 3 years from the date of application, the State Patent Office may, at the request of the applicant at any time, conduct a substantive examination of the application; If the applicant fails to request substantive examination within the time limit without justifiable reasons, the application shall be deemed to have been withdrawn. When the State Patent Office deems it necessary, it may examine the application for a patent for invention on its own. For the substantive examination that has been applied for, some can take the form of written examination, that is, through the statement of the application materials to understand the relevant situation and conduct the examination, but some substantive examinations need to be verified on the spot to confirm the real situation.
Three. Classification of substantive examination
The substantive examination system is divided into immediate examination system and delayed examination system.
(a) immediate review system, also known as one-time review system. That is, after the patent office formally examines the application, it immediately examines the content of the patent application for novelty, creativity and practicality without the applicant's request for substantive examination, so as to determine whether to grant the patent right. The advantage of instant examination system is that it can ensure the quality of patents granted patent rights, reduce litigation disputes and simplify examination procedures to some extent. Its disadvantage is that the examination and approval time is long and a huge patent examination institution is needed. At present, the United States, the Soviet Union, Canada, Sweden, India and other countries all implement this censorship system.
(two) the delayed review system, also known as the early public request review system. That is, the patent office does not immediately conduct substantive examination after formal examination of the patent application, but makes the application public first, and the applicant can request substantive examination at any time within a period of time from the date of application. After the applicant makes a request for substantive examination, the Patent Office will conduct substantive examination only after the request is made public. If the applicant fails to make a request for substantive examination within the statutory time limit, it shall be deemed as automatic withdrawal of the application.
Legal basis:
patent law of the people's republic of china
Article 26 Where an applicant applies for a patent for invention or utility model, he shall submit the written request, specification and its abstract, patent right and other documents.
The request shall specify the name of the invention or utility model, the name of the inventor, the name and address of the applicant and other matters.
The specification shall give a clear and complete description of the invention or utility model, which shall be subject to the realization of the technical personnel in the technical field; Attached drawings shall be attached when necessary. The technical points of the invention or utility model shall be briefly explained.
The patent claim shall be based on the specification, and clearly and briefly define the scope of patent protection.
For inventions that rely on genetic resources, the applicant shall state the direct source and original source of genetic resources in the patent application documents; If the applicant cannot explain the original source, it shall explain the reasons.
Article 34 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 after 18 months from the date of filing. The patent administration department of the State Council may publish its application at an early date upon the request of the applicant.
Article 35 Within 3 years from the date of filing, the administrative department for patent in the State Council may, upon the request of the applicant at any time, make a substantive examination of the application; If the applicant fails to request substantive examination within the time limit without justifiable reasons, the application shall be deemed to have been withdrawn.
The patent administrative department of the State Council may, when it deems it necessary, examine the application for a patent for invention on its own.