Patent applications generally take three to four years and six months. But only when applying for an invention patent. If a party applies for an invention or utility model patent, the application time is generally eighteen months because there is no need to conduct a three-year substantive examination.
The process of patent application is as follows:
1. Confirm the type of patent that needs to be applied for;
2. Search for patents of the same type. You can search by yourself or entrust A more comprehensive search by the agency;
3. Prepare application documents and submit them to enter the application step;
4. Obtain the acceptance notice;
5. Preliminary review (If the invention patent application is subject to a confidentiality review before the preliminary examination, if confidentiality is required, it will be handled according to confidentiality procedures);
6. Publication stage (especially invention patent application);
7. Substantive examination (specifically refers to invention patents), a comprehensive examination from the aspects of novelty, creativity, practicality, etc.;
8. Authorization stage. Utility model and appearance patents can directly enter the authorization stage after passing the fifth step of review.
Legal basis: Article 26 of the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China
To apply for an invention or utility model patent, a request, description and abstract must be submitted and claims and other documents.
The request shall state the name of the invention or utility model, the name of the inventor, the name and address of the applicant, and other matters.
The description shall provide a clear and complete description of the invention or utility model, which shall be subject to the ability of a skilled person in the relevant technical field to realize it; when necessary, there shall be accompanying drawings. The abstract should briefly describe the technical key points of the invention or utility model.
The claims should be based on the description and clearly and briefly define the scope of patent protection requested.
For inventions and creations that rely on genetic resources, the applicant shall state the direct source and original source of the genetic resource in the patent application document; if the applicant cannot explain the original source, the applicant shall state the reasons.