1. Application stage:
In the application stage, what needs to be prepared is an application for a patent for design and a picture or photograph of the patent. If color protection is required, color pictures or photos shall be submitted in duplicate. If you submit pictures, you should submit all the pictures; If you submit photos, you must submit all photos, not all of them. If you think the picture or photo is not clear enough, you need to submit a brief description of the design if you want to explain it. In addition, if you don't handle it yourself, but entrust a patent agency to handle it, you must also submit a power of attorney. To apply for fee reduction, an application for fee reduction and corresponding supporting documents shall be submitted.
2. Review stage:
After the application is passed, it will enter the patent examination stage. China implements a preliminary examination system for applications for design patents. During the preliminary examination, the examiner will issue a notice of correction to the formal problems in the application documents. The applicant makes corrections to the notice. At the same time, the examiner will examine whether it belongs to the design patent protection customer. If there are customers who are not protected by the design patent, the examiner will issue a notice of examination opinions, and the applicant will reply to the notice of examination opinions or modify the application documents.
3. Authorization stage:
After successfully passing the preliminary examination, the examiner will issue a notice of granting the patent right. After receiving the notice of granting the patent right, the applicant needs to go through the following registration procedures: pay the patent registration fee, the annual fee for authorization, the printing fee for the announcement and the stamp duty on the patent certificate within the prescribed time limit. If you complete the above registration procedures, you can get a patent certificate, which will take about 2-3 months. It takes 4-6 months from application to certification.
legal ground
patent law of the people's republic of china
Article 2 Inventions and creations mentioned in this Law refer to inventions, utility models and designs.
Invention refers to a new technical scheme proposed for a product, method or its improvement.
Utility model refers to a new practical technical scheme for the shape, structure or combination of products.
Appearance design refers to a new design that is aesthetically pleasing and suitable for industrial application, which is made on the shape, pattern or their combination of products and all or part of the combination of colors, shapes and patterns.