The main purpose of the utility model is to improve the shape and/or structure of solid products.
Appearance design mainly combines the shape, pattern and color of products to make a new design with aesthetic feeling and suitable for industrial application.
Because internet products generally involve computer programs and have nothing to do with physical products, they generally apply for invention patents.
The present invention is mainly aimed at improving products and/or methods, and such applications can be handled from the perspective of methods and products (non-entities).
Take Tencent's patent "mail processing method and system in instant messaging system" as an example. The patent of the invention includes two parts: one part is an email processing method in an instant messaging system, and the other part is an email processing system in an instant messaging system.
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According to the patent law of our country, the object of not granting patent right includes the rules and methods of intellectual activities. In Internet products, it often includes the improvement of algorithms. If you apply for a patent only by the algorithm itself, it will often be rejected for this reason, and you need to deal with it before submitting the application.
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It should be noted that e-commerce is special in terms of patents. Because there are different provisions on whether a "business method" can be granted a patent right, it needs to be judged according to the provisions of the patent-related laws of the country where the patent application is submitted. Dentsu is suing Alibaba and Tencent for patent infringement. Dentsu's patent has been authorized, but it prefers a "business method" itself, and whether it can be granted a patent right is still controversial.