What are the application and approval procedures for design patents?

I. Examination Procedures (1) Notice of Granting Patent Right If the application for a patent for design has not found any reasons for rejection after preliminary examination, the examiner shall issue a notice of granting the patent right for design. Applications for a patent for design that can be granted a patent right include those that meet the requirements of preliminary examination without correction, and those that meet the requirements of preliminary examination after correction. (2) in the preliminary examination of the application documents, the examiner shall conduct a comprehensive examination of the patent application with defects that can be overcome by making corrections, and issue a notice of correction. The notice of correction shall specify the defects in the patent application, explain the reasons and specify the time limit for reply. If the application documents are still defective after being corrected by the applicant, the examiner shall issue a notice of correction again. (III) Handling of Obvious Substantive Defects In the preliminary examination, the examiner shall issue a notice of examination opinions on patent applications with obvious substantive defects in the application documents that cannot be overcome by means of correction. The notice of examination opinions shall indicate the substantive defects of the patent application, explain the reasons and specify the time limit for defense. (IV) Reply to the Notice After receiving the notice of correction or the notice of examination opinions, the applicant shall make corrections or state his opinions within the specified time limit. Where the applicant makes corrections to the patent application, it shall submit the correction book and the replacement page of the corresponding modification document. The modification and replacement pages of the application documents shall be in duplicate, and only one copy of other documents shall be submitted. The revision of the application documents shall be carried out in accordance with the requirements of the notice of correction. The modified contents shall not exceed the scope of the pictures or photographs submitted on the application date. If the applicant fails to reply within the time limit, the examiner shall issue a notice of withdrawal or other notices according to the situation. If it is difficult for the applicant to make a reply within the specified time limit due to justifiable reasons, he may request an extension of the time limit. The relevant provisions of the Patent Examination Guide (hereinafter referred to as the Guide) on the extension of the time limit shall apply to the handling of the request for extension of the time limit. Where an application for a patent is deemed to be withdrawn due to justifiable reasons or the deadline is delayed due to force majeure, the applicant may file a request to the Patent Office to restore the rights within the prescribed time limit. The relevant provisions of the Guide on requests for rights restoration shall apply to the handling of requests for rights restoration. (five) there are obvious substantive defects in the application documents for rejecting the application, and the applicant's opinions have not been eliminated after the examiner has issued a notice of examination opinions; Or there are formal defects in the application documents, and the examiner has issued two notices of correction, which have not been eliminated after the applicant's statement or correction, and the examiner may make a decision of rejection. The text of the rejection decision shall include the cause of action, the reasons for rejection and the decision. The cause of action part should briefly describe the review process of rejecting the application; The reasons for rejection shall explain the facts, reasons and evidence of rejection; The decision part shall clearly point out that the patent application does not conform to the corresponding provisions of the Patent Law and its implementing rules, and explain that the patent application is rejected according to the provisions of the implementing rules of the Patent Law. (6) If an application for a patent is rejected because the treatment after the preliminary examination and reexamination does not conform to the provisions of the Patent Law and its detailed rules for implementation, and the applicant refuses to accept the rejection decision, he may file a request for reexamination with the Patent Reexamination Board within the prescribed time limit. The pre-trial and post-trial treatment of the request for review shall refer to the relevant provisions of the Guide. Two. Review Principles In the preliminary review procedure, the examiner shall follow the following review principles. (I) Principle of Confidentiality In the examination and approval procedure of patent application, the examiner shall be responsible for keeping confidential the unpublished or announced patent application documents, other contents related to patent application and other information that should not be disclosed. (II) The principle of written examination The examiner shall conduct the examination on the basis of the written documents submitted by the applicant, and notify the applicant in writing of the examination opinions (including the notice of correction) and the examination results. In the preliminary examination procedure, in principle, no meeting will be held. (3) Before making a rejection decision, the hearing principle examiner shall inform the applicant of the facts, reasons and evidence on which the rejection decision is based, and at least give the applicant the opportunity to state his opinions and/or modify the application documents. When the examiner makes a rejection decision, the facts, reasons and evidence on which the rejection decision is based shall have been informed to the applicant, and shall not contain new facts, reasons and/or evidence. (IV) Principle of Program Saving In case of compliance with regulations, the examiner shall improve the efficiency of examination and shorten the examination process as much as possible. For applications with defects that can be overcome through rectification, the examiner shall conduct a comprehensive review and point out all defects in a rectification notice as far as possible. For an application with substantial defects that cannot be overcome by correction, the examiner may not examine the application documents and other documents in form, but only point out the substantial defects in the notice of examination opinions. In addition to following the above principles, the examiner shall inform the applicant of the follow-up procedures that can be initiated while making disciplinary decisions such as not recommending, withdrawing or rejecting. The principles of confidentiality, written examination, hearing and procedure preservation should be followed in the relevant provisions of design patents in China.