Effective patent:
Generally speaking, a valid patent refers to a patent that is still in a valid state after the patent application is authorized. In order to make the patent in a valid state, the patent right is still within the legal protection period, and the patentee also needs to pay the annual fee according to the regulations.
Invalid patent:
After an application for a patent is authorized, it is called an invalid patent because it exceeds the statutory protection period, or because the patentee fails to pay the annual patent fee in time, or any individual or unit requests to declare the patent invalid, and it is determined by the Patent Reexamination Board and declared invalid. Invalid patents are no longer binding on the use of the technology involved.
Extended data:
Patent type:
The types of patents have different regulations in different countries. In China's patent law, there are: invention patent, utility model patent and design patent; In Hongkong patent law, there are: standard patent (equivalent to Chinese mainland's invention patent), short-term patent (equivalent to Chinese mainland's utility model patent) and design patent; In some developed countries, it is divided into invention patents and design patents.
Invention patent:
The invention patent does not seek the technical achievements that can be directly applied to industrial production through practice, but it can be a solution to technical problems or an idea with the possibility of industrial application. However, this technical scheme or idea cannot be confused with a simple topic or idea, because a simple topic or idea does not have the possibility of industrial application.
Patent for utility model:
Like the invention, the utility model protects a technical scheme. However, the protection scope of utility model patent is narrow, which only protects new products with a certain shape or structure, and does not protect methods and substances without a fixed shape. The technical scheme of the utility model pays more attention to practicality, and its technical level is lower than that of the invention. Most countries' utility model patents protect relatively simple and improved technological inventions, which can be called "small inventions".
Utility model refers to a new practical technical scheme for the shape, structure or combination of products. The patent for utility model is granted without substantive examination, with simple procedures and low cost. Therefore, small inventions about tangible products such as daily necessities, machinery and electrical appliances are more suitable for applying for utility model patents.
Design patent:
Appearance design is obviously different from invention and utility model. Appearance design focuses on the designer's artistic and aesthetic creation of the appearance of a product, but this artistic creation is not a simple handicraft, it must be practical for industrial application.
In essence, design patents protect artistic creativity, while invention patents and utility model patents protect technical creativity; Although the design and utility model are related to the shape of the product, they have different purposes. The former aims to make the appearance of products beautiful, while the latter aims to make products with appearance solve a technical problem.
Appearance design refers to 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. The object of design patent protection is the decorative or artistic design of the product, which can be a plane pattern or a three-dimensional shape, and more commonly, the combination of the two.
Reference link: Baidu Encyclopedia-Patent