The object of patent legal relationship is the invention protected by patent law. The protection object of patent law is "invention and creation", but the patent law does not protect all inventions and creations. Generally speaking, an invention-creation that can be patented must meet two conditions: first, the invention-creation belongs to the scope of protection stipulated by the patent law, and the patent laws of various countries have clear provisions on the scope of protection; Second, it meets the conditions for granting patent rights stipulated in the patent law, that is, "patentability", which is commonly called "three characteristics" (novelty, creativity and practicality). Article 2 of China's Patent Law stipulates: "Inventions and creations mentioned in this Law refer to inventions, utility models and designs." In other words, there are three objects in China's patent law: invention patent, utility model patent and design patent. The patent laws of the United States, Canada and other countries stipulate that the objects of protection are inventions, designs and plant varieties.
(1) invention patent
Invention patent refers to a high-level new technological invention using natural laws, that is, a new technical scheme for a product, method or its improvement. Compared with the prior art, it has outstanding substantive characteristics and remarkable progress. This new technical scheme must be a scheme that can solve specific problems and be realized. Invention patents can be divided into two categories:
1. Product invention patent, sometimes called "article invention patent". Because in addition to material products with fixed shapes (such as machines, equipment, appliances, etc. ), as well as some material products with no fixed shape (such as liquid, gas and powder). ) are all substances, including chemical substances, mixed substances and intermediate substances of chemical reactions. In short, it refers to artificial substances that do not exist in nature.
2. Method invention patents, such as manufacturing method, measuring method, communication method, chemical formula, technological process, etc. These methods all refer to the methods of using the laws of nature. For some optimization methods, new management methods that are purely intellectual and spiritual activities, or just based on the laws of people's psychological activities, such as various advertising methods, you cannot apply for patent protection.
(2) Patent for utility model
A patent for utility model refers to a new technical scheme for the shape, structure or combination of products, which is suitable for practical use. The technical level of such patents is lower than that of invention patents, which only require substantial characteristics and progress compared with the existing technology, and often refer to those small-scale projects, which are generally also called "small inventions". The utility model patent only protects product inventions with a certain shape and structure. The invention of methods and the invention of articles without certain shapes do not belong to the protection scope of utility model patents.
(3) Design patent
Design patent refers to a new design that is aesthetically pleasing and suitable for industrial application for the shape, pattern, color or combination of products. Generally speaking, the object of design patent protection is the decorative or artistic design of the product. This design can be a plane pattern, a three-dimensional shape, or a combination of the two.
The design patent is only applicable to one product, and if someone applies it to another product, it is not regarded as infringement of the right of design. For example, the design of carpet pattern, the patent right only applies to the appearance design of carpet. If someone uses the same pattern on the fabric, it is not regarded as infringement of the patent right of design. So when applying for a design patent, you need to refer to what kind of product it is used for.
The products mentioned in the object of design patent protection can be whole or complete, such as TV cabinets, suitcases, thermos bottles, radios, flashlights and so on. It can also be an integral or completely detachable part with independent functions, such as heels, thermos bottle plugs, pen cards, zippers, buttons, etc.
Both utility model patents and design patents involve the shape of products. The difference between them is that the utility model patent mainly involves the product structure, while the design patent only involves the product appearance.