Regarding the process of applying for an invention patent in prison, the staff also said that if a prisoner has the idea of invention and creation, he can apply to the prison staff, and if he is recognized by the prison, he will give support to meet the needs of prisoners for invention and creation. After prisoners make inventions, prisons can contact the Intellectual Property Office to help them apply for patent certification.
The reporter asked how to identify the invention as what the prisoner wants to do, instead of conveying the invention and design to the prisoner when relatives visit the prison or by other means. For this, the staff member said that he was not clear about the relevant regulations. The reporter consulted a number of lawyers, who said that the court where the prison is located is the institution that finally judges whether the prisoner's patent can be reduced or exempted. The reporter called an intermediate people's court in Tianjin for consultation. The court staff said that the court will not directly accept the prisoner's application, and the specific issue of patent commutation should be consulted with the prison where the prisoner is held. Subsequently, the reporter contacted a prison in Tianjin where the Intermediate People's Court is located, but the staff said that they were not clear about the specific requirements: "We have never encountered such a situation, but according to the regulations of the court, you must invent it yourself, and you must never design fraud for you." The reporter wants to further consult whether there is a need for patented design content. The staff member said that there was so much to explain, and he was hung up by the other party as soon as his voice fell.
Since then, the reporter has contacted a prison in Baoding, Hebei Province and a prison in Shanghai, but the specific requirements for patent commutation have not been clearly answered. Although China's criminal law recognizes that "criminals have made inventions or major technological innovations during the execution period, which constitutes a major meritorious service and should be commuted." However, there are no uniform laws and regulations on what kind of patents can be applied for commutation, how to identify and how to apply. Some regions have introduced relevant regulations according to local conditions.
The Opinions on Several Issues Concerning the Trial of Commutation Cases promulgated by the Higher People's Court of Jiangsu Province in 2005 stipulates that the third "invention or major technological innovation" recognized as a major meritorious service generally refers to "obtaining more than one invention patent, or more than two utility model patents, or more than three design patents during the prison term.
In 2009, Gansu Province promulgated the Measures for Incentives for Inventions and Technological Innovations of Criminals during Their Sentences (for Trial Implementation), which stipulated that the types of awards were divided into three categories: meritorious service, meritorious service and major meritorious service. For example, those who have obtained a design patent have rendered meritorious service, those who have obtained a utility model patent or two design patents have rendered meritorious service, and those who have obtained an invention patent, two utility model patents or three design patents have rendered meritorious service. After that, according to the relevant provisions of the Implementation Measures for the Scoring and Assessment of Prison Criminals in Gansu Province, the prisoners were scored. So, can I get a reduced sentence for inventing in prison? The answer is no.
In order to put an end to the problems of "rich people" and "entitled people" such as fast commutation, many paroles and short prison sentences, and strictly regulate commutation, parole and temporary execution outside prison, in 20 14, the Central Political and Legal Committee issued the Opinions on Strictly Regulating Commutation, Parole and Temporary Execution Outside Prison to Effectively Prevent Judicial Corruption (hereinafter referred to as Document No.5 of the Central Political and Legal Committee), clearly stipulating that, If a criminal (hereinafter referred to as "Class III criminal") who takes advantage of his position to commit crimes of disrupting financial management order and financial fraud and organize (lead, participate in, cover up and condone) organized crimes of a triad nature makes technological innovations in production and scientific research, and his achievements are recognized as meritorious deeds, the technological innovations or other contributions must be independently completed by the criminal during his prison term and confirmed by the provincial competent department.
If an invention-creation or major technological innovation is recognized as a major meritorious service, the invention-creation or major technological innovation must be an invention patent independently completed by the prisoner during his prison term and confirmed by the competent department of the state, excluding utility model patents and design patents.
Wang Jianbing said that in this opinion issued by the Central Political and Legal Committee, the most important thing about invention and creation is to clearly stipulate that two types of patents, utility model and design, will no longer be used as commutation conditions. "This can basically block the way for individuals to reduce their sentences by applying for invention patents, because it is really difficult for ordinary people to apply for invention patents."
Zhang Sulian, president of the trial supervision court of the Second Intermediate People's Court, said that according to the regulations, inventions are limited to invention patents, and patents for utility models and designs are not regarded as cases with significant meritorious service. In the latter two cases, prison assessment is a discretionary item, not a necessary condition for extra points. "In Nanyong's commutation, invention is not the decisive factor."
She said that the condition for reducing Nan Yong's sentence is mainly to consider the extra points for his daily reform, because Nan Yong served his sentence in Yancheng Prison in the second half of 20 12, and 20141was submitted to the Second Intermediate People's Court, and his sentence has been more than two years. In the past two years, he passed the inspection of the prison procuratorate mainly by the scoring assessment of the prison and the working method of requesting commutation and parole. Because the executive authorities also strictly controlled it and reported that the sentence was reduced by one year, we also considered it comprehensively and ruled that Nan Yong had his sentence reduced by one year.