What does patent examination include?

Legal analysis: After accepting an application for a patent for invention, the patent administrative department of the State Council must conduct an examination according to the procedures stipulated in the Patent Law. The main examination procedures of an application for a patent for invention include preliminary examination, publication of the patent application, request for substantive examination and substantive examination.

Legal basis: Article 21 of the Civil Law of People's Republic of China (PRC), the State Council Patent Administration Department and its Patent Reexamination Board shall handle patent applications and requests in an objective, fair, accurate and timely manner.

Before the patent application is published or announced, the staff of the patent administration department in the State Council and relevant personnel shall be responsible for keeping the contents confidential.