Five steps of patent application

what are the procedures of patent application according to the patent law? The examination and approval procedures of invention patent application are divided into five stages: acceptance, preliminary examination, publication, substantive examination and authorization. (1) In the acceptance stage, the patent office will review the patent application after receiving it. If it meets the acceptance conditions, the patent office will determine the application date, give the application number, and after checking the list of documents, issue an acceptance notice to inform the applicant. If the application documents are not typed, printed, illegible or altered; Or the drawings and pictures are not drawn with drawing tools and black ink, and the photos are blurred and altered; Or the application documents are incomplete; Or the applicant's name or name and address are unknown in the request; Or the patent application category is unclear or uncertain, and the patent application directly sent by foreign units and individuals without foreign-related patent agencies will not be accepted. (2) If the patent application accepted in the preliminary examination stage pays the application fee according to the regulations, it will automatically enter the preliminary examination stage. Before the preliminary examination, the application for a patent for invention must first be examined for confidentiality, and if it needs to be kept confidential, it shall be handled according to the confidentiality procedure. In the preliminary examination, it is necessary to examine whether there are obvious defects in the application, mainly including whether the examination content falls within the scope of not granting patent rights in the Patent Law, whether the obvious lack of technical content cannot constitute a technical scheme, whether there is a lack of oneness, whether the application documents are complete and whether the format meets the requirements. If it is a foreign applicant, it is necessary to conduct qualification examination and application formalities examination. If it is unqualified, the Patent Office will notify the applicant to make corrections or make statements within the prescribed time limit. If it fails to reply within the time limit, the application will be deemed to be withdrawn. If the defects have not been eliminated after the reply, it shall be rejected. If an application for a patent for invention passes the preliminary examination, a notice of passing the preliminary examination will be issued. In addition to the above-mentioned examination, the application for a patent for utility model and design should also be examined whether it is obviously the same as the existing patent, not a new technical scheme or a new design, and no reason for rejection has been found after preliminary examination. Will directly enter the authorization order. (3) Publication stage The application for a patent for invention enters the publication stage from the issuance of the notice of preliminary examination. If the applicant does not make a request for early disclosure, it will not enter the public preparation procedure until 18 months from the date of application. If the applicant requests to be made public in advance, the application will immediately enter the public preparation procedure. After format review, editing and proofreading, computer processing, typesetting and printing, about 3 months later, the abstract of its instructions was published in the patent bulletin and a booklet of instructions was published. After the application is published, the applicant has the right to temporary protection. (4) After the publication of the application for a patent for invention in the substantive examination stage, if the applicant has made a request for substantive examination and it has taken effect, the applicant will enter the actual examination procedure. If the applicant has not made a request for a real trial within three years from the date of application, or the request for a real trial has not taken effect, the application shall be deemed to have been withdrawn. During the actual trial, whether the patent application is novel, creative, practical and other substantive conditions stipulated in the patent law will be comprehensively reviewed. Upon examination, it is considered that the application does not meet the authorization conditions or there are various defects, and the applicant will be notified to state his opinions or make amendments within the specified time. If he fails to reply within the time limit, the application will be deemed to have been withdrawn, and if he still fails to meet the requirements after repeated replies, it will be rejected. The actual trial period is long. If it is not authorized within two years from the date of application, the application maintenance fee shall be paid every year from the third year. If it is not paid within the time limit, the application will be deemed to be withdrawn. If no reason for rejection is found in the substantive examination, it will enter the authorization procedure as required. (5) In the authorization stage, if the application for a patent for utility model and design has been preliminarily examined and the application for a patent for invention has not found any reasons for rejection after substantive examination, the examiner will make an authorization notice and apply for authorization registration preparation. After reviewing the legal effect and completeness of the authorization text and proofreading and modifying the description items of the patent application, the Patent Office will issue an authorization notice and a notice for handling registration procedures. After receiving the notice, the applicant shall go through the registration formalities in accordance with the requirements of the notice and pay the prescribed fees within 2 months. If the registration formalities are completed on schedule, the Patent Office will grant the patent right, issue a patent certificate, record it in the patent register, and announce it in the patent gazette two months later. Failure to go through the registration formalities in accordance with the regulations will be regarded as giving up the right to obtain the patent right.