Invention patents include product patents and method patents.
1, product invention, product invention, refers to the products directly produced by the technical scheme provided by the inventor to solve specific problems, such as electric lights, telephones, machines, equipment, instruments, new alloy substances and other inventions.
Substances that are in a natural state without human processing are not product inventions, such as natural gems and minerals. After a product invention is patented, it is called a product patent, which only protects the product itself and does not protect the manufacturing method of the product.
2. Method Invention Method invention refers to the operation method and technological process created for manufacturing products or solving a technical problem.
The "methods" here can be chemical methods, mechanical methods, communication methods and methods described in the order specified by the process. Such as papermaking, steelmaking, printing and communication. A method invention is called a method patent after it is patented.
According to the Patent Law of our country, the protection scope of method patent extends to the products directly obtained by this method and imported or used or sold in China.
This means that no unit or individual may use the patented method and use or sell the products directly obtained according to the patented method without the permission of the patentee of the method invention.
There is a more detailed classification method about inventions:
1, pioneering invention, pioneering invention is also called pioneering invention. This refers to a brand-new technical scheme, which has no precedent in the history of technology at home and abroad. This invention has created a new milestone for the development of human science and technology, and it is an absolutely novel invention.
For example, inventions such as compass, printing, steam engine, electric light and telephone have left brilliant footprints in the history of human invention and are groundbreaking inventions.
2. Improved invention Improved invention refers to an improved technical scheme based on the existing technology to improve its performance and make it have new functions while maintaining its unique performance. Compared with the original invention, the improved invention depends more on the technical achievements of predecessors.
Most inventions belong to improved inventions.
3. Combined invention A combined invention refers to a technical scheme that combines some known technical features to achieve new goals. For example, the engine, tires, carriage and steering wheel are combined into a car, so that the combined result has a completely different technical effect from the original four components.
In the modern society with increasingly advanced technology, combinatorial invention is more important and indispensable. The recombination of the original products or methods and the flexible application of the original technology can sometimes produce unexpected effects and even raise the existing technology to a new stage.
4. Application invention refers to the invention produced by applying the known technology in a certain technical field to a new field.
This new application can also produce unexpected technical effects. For example, washing powder is a well-known detergent. Some people have studied some characteristics of washing powder, and feeding pigs as feed in animal husbandry can achieve the purpose of fattening. This new use of washing powder is an application invention. 5. Selective invention A selective invention refers to an invention that chooses a technical scheme from many published technical schemes.
Selective invention is a common form of invention in the field of chemistry. For example, under standard atmospheric pressure, the output of substance A usually increases at 50 ~100 C, but according to further experiments, if it is set at 70 ~ 80°C, the output of substance A will increase significantly. The invention is a selective invention in a wide temperature range.
It is worth noting that some patent applicants want to draw a wide range of patent protection for their inventions, but there are not enough examples to support them, so it is easy for others to choose inventions on the basis of the original inventions. The above introduction of invention patents is a little more complicated, but it is necessary, because among the protected objects stipulated in China's patent law, the requirements for inventions are the highest and strictest, and it is quite difficult for an invention to obtain the invention patent right instead of the utility model or design patent right through strict examination by the patent administration department of the State Council.
Therefore, in China's patent applications, the proportion of invention patents is relatively small, only accounting for more than 10% of all applications.