The legal status of patent can be divided into: application, acceptance, passing preliminary examination, actual examination, publication, examination opinions, authorization and issuance. Patent literally refers to exclusive rights and interests. The word "patent" comes from Latin Litteraepatentes, which means open letters or open documents. It is a certificate used by medieval monarchs to issue certain privileges, and later refers to the exclusive rights certificate signed by the British king himself. Related extensions: What kinds of patents are there? There are three types of patents: invention patents, utility models and designs. 2. Patents literally refer to exclusive rights. Patents are generally documents issued by government agencies or regional organizations representing several countries according to their applications. This kind of document records the contents of the invention and creation, and in a certain period of time, it has produced such a legal state that the patented invention and creation can only be implemented by others with the permission of the patentee. 3. Invention patent It can be considered that invention is a technical scheme put forward by the inventor to solve a specific problem by using the laws of nature. Therefore, China's "Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Patent Law" points out that "the invention referred to in the Patent Law refers to a new technical scheme proposed for a product, method or its improvement". 4. The definition of patent for utility model is: "Utility model refers to a new and practical technical scheme for the shape, structure or combination of products." The technical scheme of the utility model pays more attention to practicality, and its technical level is lower than that of the invention. The utility model patents in most countries protect relatively simple and improved technological inventions, which can be called "small inventions". 5. The definition of design patent is: "Design refers to a new design with aesthetic feeling and suitable for industrial application based on the shape, pattern or their combination of products and the combination of color, shape and pattern. The design granted the patent right does not belong to the existing design; Before the filing date, no unit or individual has filed an application with the patent administration department of the State Council for the same design, and it is recorded in the patent documents published after the filing date.