Paragraph 1 of Article 22 of China's Patent Law stipulates: "Inventions and utility models that are granted patent rights shall be novel, creative and practical.
Novelty means that before the filing date, no identical invention or utility model has been published in domestic and foreign publications, publicly used in China or known to the public in other ways, and no identical invention or utility model has been applied to the Patent Office by others and recorded in the patent documents published after the filing date.
Creativity means that the invention has outstanding substantive characteristics and progress compared with the existing technology before the filing date.
Practicality means that the invention or utility model can be manufactured or used and can produce positive effects.
In addition, the patented design should be different from or not similar to the design publicly published in domestic and foreign publications or publicly used in China before the application date.
(2) Prohibition conditions.
Article 5 of the Patent Law stipulates: "A patent right shall be granted for inventions and creations that violate the laws of the state, social morality or infringe the public interests." .
In addition, the following seven items, namely, scientific discoveries, rules and methods of intellectual activities, methods of diagnosis and treatment of diseases, foods, beverages and condiments, drugs and substances obtained by chemical methods, and animal and plant varieties, do not belong to the scope of patent protection.
Second, the procedure for applying for a patent.
(a) whether to apply for a patent technically and economically.
That is, whether the invention can meet the conditions of patent right technically; Whether the invention has sufficient economic value economically and whether it is worth applying for patent protection.
(2) Write application documents.
The application documents for an inventor to apply for a patent may be written by himself or by a patent agent entrusted by a patent agency.
As patent application is a highly legal and technical work, it is best to ask a patent agent to write patent application documents.
To apply for a patent for invention or utility model, a request, specification, abstract, patent claim and other documents shall be submitted.
(3) Submit the application documents to the Chinese Patent Office or its agency.
The applicant will send the prepared application documents to China Patent Office or its representative office (China Patent Office has set up representative offices in Shenyang, Jinan, Shanghai, Nanjing, Chengdu and Changsha) for acceptance.
If the application documents are mailed, the postmark date shall be the application date. All application documents sent by post shall be packed in large font and shall not be folded. When two or more application documents are packed in an envelope, a document list shall be attached.
(4) Two special patent applications.
Apply for a confidential patent.
Where the invention-creation for which a patent is applied involves national security or vital interests and needs to be kept confidential, it shall be handled in accordance with the relevant provisions of the state.
The patent application for national defense system shall be accepted by the patent institution established by the competent department of national defense science and technology, and the Patent Office shall make a decision according to the examination opinions of the institution; After accepting the application for non-defense system, the Patent Office will forward the application for confidentiality review to the relevant departments of the State Council for review, and the relevant departments shall notify the Patent Office of the review results within 4 months from the date of receipt.
Where the invention-creation for which a patent is applied needs to be kept confidential, the Patent Office shall treat it as a confidential patent and notify the applicant.
Apply for a patent abroad.
To apply for a patent abroad, you need to go through the following procedures: first, apply for a patent with the Chinese Patent Office; With the consent of the relevant departments of the State Council; A patent agency designated by the State Council shall be entrusted to act as an agent; Fees for preparing to apply for foreign patents.