According to China's patent law, there are three kinds of patent applications that domestic and foreign applicants can file with China Patent Office: invention patent, utility model patent and design patent application. Inventions and utility models are applications for technical improvement, and applications for invention patents can protect product and method inventions; The application for a patent for utility model does not protect the method invention, but only protects the product and the improvement of its structure; An application for a patent for design only protects the appearance, shape, pattern or their combination and the combination with color of the product. Invention patents are granted for a long time, usually three to five years, but the granted patents are highly stable due to the need for substantive examination procedures; Patents for utility models and designs do not need to go through substantive examination procedures, so they can be granted quickly. Generally speaking, the utility model can be authorized within six to twelve months from the date of application, and the design can be authorized within about six months from the date of application.
Legal basis:
patent law
Article 22 An invention or utility model that has been granted a patent right shall be novel, creative and practical. Novelty means that the invention or utility model does not belong to the prior art; No unit or individual filed an application for the same invention or utility model with the administrative department for patent in the State Council before the filing date, and it was recorded in the patent application documents published or announced after the filing date. Creativity means that compared with the prior art, the invention has outstanding substantive features and remarkable progress, and the utility model has substantive features and progress. Practicality means that the invention or utility model can be manufactured or used and can produce positive effects. The existing technology mentioned in this law refers to the technology known to the public at home and abroad before the date of application.