The objects of patent protection are inventions, utility models and designs. An invention is a new technical scheme for a product, method or its improvement; The utility model is a new practical technical scheme for the shape, structure or combination of products; Appearance design is a new design with aesthetic feeling and suitable for industrial application based on the shape, pattern or combination of products and the combination of color and shape and pattern.
Legal objectivity:
According to the provisions of the Patent Law, inventions and creations granted patent rights include inventions, utility models and designs. No patent rights shall be granted to scientific discoveries, rules and methods of intellectual activities, methods of diagnosis and treatment of diseases, varieties of animals and plants (the production methods of animal and plant products may be patented in accordance with the provisions of the Patent Law), substances obtained by nuclear transformation, etc. According to the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (Trips Agreement), members are not allowed to grant patents on the diagnosis, treatment and surgical methods of human or animal bodies, and biological processes that produce plants or animals other than microorganisms, except biological and microbial processes, which are basically biological processes, but members should stipulate that plant varieties should be protected by patents, a special and effective system or a comprehensive application of the two. The provisions of China Patent Law are consistent with the minimum requirements of patent protection in Trips Agreement. China's patent law does not grant invention patents that violate national laws, social morality or harm public interests. In this regard, the Trips Agreement has also made similar provisions. Article 27, paragraph 2, of the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights stipulates: "If it is necessary to prevent the commercial exploitation of the following inventions within its territory, including protecting the life or health of human beings, animals or plants or avoiding serious damage to the environment, as long as this is not only because such exploitation is prohibited by its laws, members shall not grant patent rights to these inventions."