Inventions and creations protected by China's patent law include inventions, utility models and designs. Invention patents can be divided into product inventions and method inventions. Utility patents protect products with a certain shape or structure. The design patent protects the appearance characteristics of the product, which can be the three-dimensional shape of the product, the plane pattern of the product, or the combination of the two, but it cannot be the pattern or graphic design divorced from the specific product. An invention-creation that has been granted a patent right shall meet the following conditions: (1) Novelty means that no identical invention or utility model was publicly published in domestic and foreign publications, publicly used in China or made known to the public in other ways before the filing date, and no identical invention or utility model was applied to the patent administration department of the State Council by others after the filing date and was recorded in the patent application documents with foresight. (2) Creativity means that the invention has outstanding substantive features and remarkable progress compared with the prior art before the filing date. The utility model has substantial characteristics and progress. (3) Practicality means that the invention or utility model can be manufactured or used and can produce positive effects. The design to which the patent right is granted shall be different from or similar to the design that has been published in domestic and foreign publications or publicly used in China before the date of application, and shall not conflict with the legal rights previously obtained by others. According to the provisions of China's patent law, the protection period of invention patents is 20 years, and that of utility model and design patents is 10 years, counting from the date of application.
Legal basis: Article 22 of the Patent Law of People's Republic of China (PRC), the invention and utility model for which a patent is applied shall be novel, creative and practical.
Novelty means that the invention or utility model does not belong to the prior art; No unit or individual filed an application for the same invention or utility model with the administrative department for patent in the State Council before the filing date, and it was recorded in the patent application documents published or announced after the filing date.
Creativity means that compared with the prior art, the invention has outstanding substantive features and remarkable progress, and the utility model has substantive features and progress.
Practicality means that the invention or utility model can be manufactured or used and can produce positive effects.
The existing technology mentioned in this law refers to the technology known to the public at home and abroad before the date of application.