Basic flow of patent application
At present, there are two ways for China to apply for a patent, one is to entrust a legally established patent agency to handle it, and the other is to submit the application materials to the Beijing Patent Office in person. Due to geographical location, time cost and other factors, most patent applications are handled through agencies at present, and it is not excluded that powerful large enterprises set up their own legal departments to take charge of patent applications.
The process of entrusting a patent agency to apply for a patent:
I consultations:
1, to determine whether the invention belongs to patentable content; For this consultation, it is recommended to consult several companies and compare them to determine the correct conclusion.
2. Determine which patent type (invention, utility model, design) can be applied for the invention content.
Second, sign an agency agreement.
The purpose of signing the agency agreement at this time is to clarify the rights and obligations between the applicant and the patent agency, mainly to restrain the patent agent from keeping the contents of the applicant's inventions confidential.
Third, technical disclosure
1. The applicant provides the patent agent with background information about the invention-creation or entrusts the retrieval of relevant contents;
2. The applicant introduces the contents of the invention in detail to help the patent agent fully understand the contents of the invention.
Fourth, determine the application plan.
On the basis of understanding the invention and creation, the agent will make a preliminary judgment on the prospect of the patent application and advise the applicant to withdraw the application with little possibility of patent authorization. At this time, the agency will charge a small amount of consulting fees, and most of the application agency fees will be returned to the applicant.
If the patent authorization has a bright future, the patent agent will put forward a clear application plan, scope and content of protection, and start preparing a formal application with the consent of the applicant.
Verb (abbreviation of verb) Preparation of application documents
1, writing patent application documents;
2. Make application documents;
3. Submit a patent application and obtain a patent application number.
Review of intransitive verbs
The Chinese Patent Office examines the patent application documents, and the patent agent makes patent corrections, replies and changes during the examination process. When necessary, the applicant shall cooperate with the patent agent to complete the above work.
Seven. Review conclusion
China Patent Office will authorize or reject the examination conclusion according to the examination results. Generally, this process takes about 6 months for design, 2 months for utility model 10- 12 months, and 2-4 years for invention patent.
Eight, go through the formalities of patent registration or reexamination request:
If the patent application is authorized, it shall go through the registration formalities in accordance with the requirements of the patent authorization notice and obtain a patent certificate.
If the patent application is rejected, it shall be determined whether to file a request for reexamination according to the specific circumstances.