Secret skills of consulting invention patents

The patent itself is the right to disclose technology to the public in exchange for a certain period of time. Therefore, if you want to apply for a patent, you will inevitably face the problem of technology disclosure. The openness of technology must be based on the fact that ordinary technicians in this field can realize it without creative labor after seeing the open literature. The so-called uncreative labor includes some routine experiments. As long as this can be done, other contents can be protected as technical secrets and not made public.

It should be noted that, generally speaking, the term of patent protection can still meet the general needs. The protection period of utility model patent is 10 year, and the protection period of invention patent is 20 years. If the life cycle of technology is not particularly long, and it is about products to be sold to the public, then it is best to apply for patents. One of the reasons is that once there is infringement, it is easier to protect the rights of patents, while it is more troublesome to prove when using technical secrets to protect rights. If technology is about some special methods that others can hardly think of, or something that is only used in the production process but no one can touch, the less people know, the better. This time should be protected by technical secrets, but the company should do a good job of confidentiality, such as signing a confidentiality agreement.

Another thing to note is that you must first find out what the object of patent protection is and determine whether your technology belongs to the scope of patent protection. Don't apply for a patent for something that is not protected by a patent, because there is a risk that the technology will be made public and not protected by a patent, and both ends will fail.

Article 2 of the Patent Law stipulates the object of patent protection, and Article 25 stipulates the contents that the patent does not protect:

Article 2 Inventions and creations 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 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.

Article 25 No patent right shall be granted to the following projects:

(1) scientific discoveries;

(2) rules and methods of intellectual activities;

(3) Methods of diagnosis and treatment of diseases;

(4) Species of animals and plants;

(5) substances obtained by nuclear transformation;

(six) the design of the pattern, color or the combination of the two.

The production method of the products listed in Item (4) of the preceding paragraph may be granted a patent right in accordance with the provisions of this Law.

Generally speaking, the object that a patent can protect is the solution to technical problems by applying natural laws, not those ideas that are not bound by natural laws.

Whether to apply for utility model or invention depends on your actual needs. Both utility models and inventions will be disclosed. The utility model is approved quickly without substantive examination, but the protection period is short and the rights are relatively unstable; After substantial examination, the approval time of the invention is slow, but the protection period is long and the rights are relatively stable. If necessary, you can apply for invention and utility model at the same time. When the invention patent can be approved, you can just declare that you will give up the utility model patent.