According to the Patent Law, the examination and approval procedure of an application for a patent for invention includes five stages: acceptance, preliminary examination, publication, actual examination and authorization. The application for a patent for utility model or design does not undergo early publication and substantive examination in the examination and approval, and there are only three stages: acceptance, preliminary examination and authorization. ?
The flow chart of patent application and examination for invention, utility model and design is as follows:
(The above source: China National Intellectual Property Administration)