"I want to apply for a patent for my product, but I don't know what kind of patent to apply for?" "Our products consist of software and hardware. My design inspiration comes from the original existing products, but the hardware is different from the original products, which has changed the way people use this product. There must be completely different software on the software to match my invention, so what kind of patent should I apply for? "
For questions like this, A Miao will sort out a complete list of patents in China and make a detailed interpretation of each patent.
Invention patent refers to an unprecedented patented technology or method with originality, novelty and practicality; Among the three patent types, utility model patent, invention patent and appearance patent have the highest technical content and value, so the protection period of invention patent is the longest-(20 years).
Invention patents include product patents and method patents.
1, product invention
Product invention refers to the products directly produced by the technical scheme provided by the inventor to solve specific problems, such as electric lights, telephones, machines, equipment, instruments, new alloy substances and other inventions.
By the way, substances that are in a natural state without human processing are not product inventions, such as natural gems and minerals.
After a product invention is patented, it is called a product patent, which only protects the product itself and does not protect the manufacturing method of the product.
2. Method invention
Method invention refers to the operation method and technological process created for manufacturing products or solving a technical problem. The "methods" here can be chemical methods, mechanical methods, communication methods and methods described in the order specified by the process. Such as papermaking, steelmaking, printing and communication.
A method invention is called a method patent after it is patented.
The second kind of patent is: design patent, as the name implies, is a new design for the shape, pattern, color or the combination of the three!
For example, the curved appearance of Coca-Cola refers to the appearance design of industrial products, that is, the style of industrial products.
The third kind of patent is: utility model patent, which refers to a new practical technical scheme for the shape, structure or combination of products. The protection period is 10 year.
The shape of a product refers to the definite spatial shape that the product has and can be observed from the outside. The technical scheme proposed for product shape can be the technical scheme proposed for product three-dimensional shape, such as the improvement of cam shape and cutter shape; It can also be a technical scheme of two-dimensional shape of products, such as the improvement of sectional shape of profiles.