2. In the process of patent creativity examination, invention patents need to have "outstanding substantive features and significant progress", while utility model patents only need to have "substantive features and progress".
3. The creativity level of utility model is lower than that of invention, so some people call utility model patents "small inventions" or "small patents".
4. The Patent Law stipulates a simplified examination and approval procedure for the application for a patent for utility model, which only makes a preliminary examination of utility model, while the invention patent needs a substantive examination in addition to the preliminary examination.