1. To submit an application for a software patent, China National Intellectual Property Administration shall issue a notice of acceptance, which shall be authorized after preliminary examination, publication and substantive examination. 2. Documents to be submitted when applying for an invention patent include: (1) request. (2) description. (3) claim. (4) Attached drawings of the instruction manual. People's Republic of China (PRC) Patent Law Article 2 Invention-creation as mentioned in this Law refers 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 that is aesthetically pleasing and suitable for industrial application, which is made on the shape, pattern or their combination of products and all or part of the combination of colors, shapes and patterns.
Legal objectivity:
Patent application is a legal system to protect the intellectual property rights of inventions and creations under the conditions of market economy. All inventions with patent conditions should apply for patents as soon as possible in order to obtain legal protection from the state. To apply for a patent, the necessary application documents must be submitted to China National Intellectual Property Administration in accordance with the regulations. To apply for a patent for invention or utility model, a request, specification, patent right, abstract of specification and necessary drawings shall be submitted. To apply for a patent for design, a request, a design picture or photograph, a brief description and other documents shall be submitted. Patent application documents can be written by the applicant himself or by others. Patent application procedure: (1) In the acceptance stage, the patent office will examine the patent application after receiving it. If the conditions for acceptance are met, the Patent Office shall determine the date of application, give the application number, and after checking the list of documents, issue an acceptance notice to inform the applicant. The application documents are not printed, printed, illegible or altered; Or drawings and pictures are not drawn with drawing tools and black ink, and the photos are blurred and altered; Or the application documents are incomplete; Or the name or address of the applicant is not known in the request; Or the patent application category is unclear or uncertain, and the patent application sent directly by foreign units and individuals without foreign-related patent agencies will not be accepted. (2) The patent application accepted in the preliminary examination stage will automatically enter the preliminary examination stage if the application fee is paid in accordance with the regulations. Before the preliminary examination, the application for a patent for invention must be examined in confidentiality, and if confidentiality is required, it shall be handled in accordance with the confidentiality procedures. In the preliminary examination, it is necessary to examine whether there are obvious defects in the application, mainly including whether the contents of the examination fall within the scope of the patent law that does not grant the patent right, whether the obvious lack of technical content does not constitute a technical scheme, whether it lacks singularity, whether the application documents are complete and whether the format meets the requirements. If it is a foreign applicant, it is necessary to conduct qualification examination and application formalities examination. If it is unqualified, the Patent Office will notify the applicant to make corrections or statements within the prescribed time limit. If no reply is made within the time limit, the application shall be deemed to be withdrawn. If the defect has not been eliminated after the reply, it shall be rejected. Where an application for a patent for invention has passed the preliminary examination, a notice of passing the preliminary examination shall be issued. In addition to the above examination, the application for a patent for utility model and design shall also be examined whether it is obviously the same as the existing patent, not a new technical scheme or a new design, and no reason for rejection has been found after preliminary examination. Will directly enter the authorization instruction. (3) Publication stage The application for a patent for invention shall enter the publication stage from the date when the notice of preliminary examination is issued. If the applicant does not make a request for publicity in advance, it will not enter the public preparation procedure until 15 months after the application date. If the applicant requests to be made public in advance, the application will immediately enter the public preparation procedure. After format review, editing and proofreading, computer processing, typesetting and printing, about three months later, the abstract of its instructions was published in the Patent Gazette, and a brochure was published. After the application is published, the applicant has the right to temporary protection. (4) After the publication of the application for a patent for invention in the substantive examination stage, if the applicant makes a request for substantive examination and the request has taken effect, the applicant will enter the substantive examination procedure. If the applicant fails to make a request for real trial since the date of application, or the request for real trial has not taken effect, the application shall be deemed to have been withdrawn. In the actual trial process, whether the patent application is novel, creative and practical will be comprehensively examined. After examination, if it is found that the application does not meet the authorization conditions or there are various defects, the applicant will be notified to state his opinions or make amendments within the specified time. If no reply is made within the time limit, the application shall be deemed to have been withdrawn. If the application still fails to meet the requirements after repeated replies, the application shall be rejected. The actual probation period is very long. If it is not authorized within two years from the date of application, the application maintenance fee shall be paid every year from the third year. Failing to pay within the time limit shall be deemed to have withdrawn the application. If the substantive examination finds no reason for rejection, it shall enter the authorization procedure as required. (5) In the authorization stage, the application for a patent for utility model and design has been preliminarily examined, and if the application for a patent for invention has not found any reasons for rejection after substantive examination, the examiner will make an authorization notice and apply for authorization registration preparation. The Patent Office examines the legal effect and completeness of the authorized text, proofreads and modifies the description items of the patent application, and then issues a notice of authorization and a notice of registration. After receiving the notice, the applicant shall go through the registration formalities in accordance with the requirements of the notice and pay the prescribed fees within 2 months. If the registration formalities are completed on schedule, the Patent Office will grant a patent right, issue a patent certificate, record it in the patent register, and announce it in the patent bulletin two months later. Failure to go through the registration formalities in accordance with the provisions shall be regarded as giving up the right to obtain the patent right. (6) The patent reexamination procedure in the reexamination stage is a remedy for the applicant when the patent application is rejected. According to Article 41 of the Patent Law, the Patent Reexamination Board accepts and examines the request for reexamination and makes a decision. Cases requesting re-examination include cases requesting patent re-examination because they refuse to accept the decision to reject the patent application in the preliminary examination and substantive examination procedures. Only the patent applicant has the right to start the patent reexamination procedure, and must submit it to the Patent Reexamination Board of the State Intellectual Property Office within 3 months after receiving the notice of rejection. (7) Patent Invalidation Among the patent applications and patent applications of enterprises, patent invalidation is one of the most widely used patent laws and regulations of enterprises and units (it should be second only to patent applications). Patent invalidation has become a necessary means and skill in patent litigation. The legal consequence of invalid patent right is that the invalid patent right is regarded as nonexistent from the beginning. Anyone who refuses to accept the decision of the Patent Reexamination Board to declare the patent right invalid or maintain the patent right may bring a lawsuit to the people's court within three months from the date of receiving the notice. The decision to declare the patent right invalid has no retrospective effect on the judgments and rulings of patent infringement made and executed by the people's court before the patent right is declared invalid, the decisions on handling patent infringement disputes that have been performed or executed, and the patent licensing contracts and patent transfer contracts that have been performed. However, if the patentee's malice causes losses to others, it shall make compensation. In accordance with the above provisions, if the patentee or the patentee's transferor fails to return the patent royalty or patent transfer fee to the licensee or the patentee, which obviously violates the principle of fairness, the patentee or the patentee's transferor shall return all or part of the patent royalty or patent transfer fee to the licensee or the patentee's transferee. It can be seen that the legal consequences of declaring a patent invalid are quite serious. For patent applicants, it is necessary to do a good job in the preliminary work of patent application, such as patent literature inquiry, novelty retrieval, market research and so on.