After paying the application fee, how long will the patent examination take?

First of all, we need to determine what kind of patent it is. Invention patents need to go through public and substantive examination, which takes a long time, usually 2~3 years. For utility model and appearance patent, it takes about 6 months after paying the application fee.

Patent application process

A. Invention patent: application by an entrusted agency (taking the acceptance notice within 7 working days → formal examination (about 6 months) → preliminary examination (about 6 months) → announcement (the contents of patent application can be made public to the public compulsorily from the date of application, and it can be required to be made public in advance in the request) → substantive examination (about 12 months, and the applicant submits a request for substantive examination within 3 years from the date of application).

B, utility model and design patent: entrust an agency to apply (issue a notice of acceptance within seven working days) → formal review → preliminary review (about 4 months for design patent and 5 months for utility model) → authorization → issuance of certificates.