The so-called substantive examination refers to the examination conducted by the patent administration department of the State Council on whether the substantive content of an invention patent application is novel, creative and practical. Substantive examination is actually conducted on the basis of preliminary examination. The method of substantive examination is to conduct a comprehensive worldwide literature search to determine whether the invention applied for patent is novel, and then determine whether the invention is creative and practical.
It is worth pointing out that there is no substantive examination for utility model and design patent applications.
my country implements a preliminary examination system for utility model and design patent applications. The complete examination procedure for a utility model or design patent application includes four stages, which are: preliminary examination, grant of patent rights, revocation procedure and invalidation procedure. Compared with the aforementioned invention patent examination procedures, there is no substantive examination stage.
A utility model or design patent application must go through the first two stages before being approved.
The preliminary examination stage includes steps such as acceptance of patent applications, collection of patent fees, classification, examination of obvious substantive defects and format examination. In contrast to the preliminary examination of an invention patent application, there is no step to publish a patent application.
The authorization stage includes the Patent Office issuing a two-in-one notice of granting patent rights and completing registration procedures, the applicant completes the registration procedures, the Patent Office makes an authorization decision, issues a utility model or design patent certificate, and registers it. The Patent Office announces the decision to grant patent rights and other steps. The execution steps at this stage are the same as those for granting an invention patent.
Similarly, a small number of applications may also go through the revocation and/or invalidation procedures after authorization