Five-stage process of invention patent application approval

Five stages of examination and approval of an application for a patent for invention (IV) Substantive examination stage According to the Patent Law, the examination and approval procedure of an application for a patent for invention is divided into five stages: acceptance, preliminary examination, publication, substantive examination and authorization. In the acceptance stage, the patent office conducts examination after receiving the patent application. If the conditions for acceptance are met, the Patent Office shall determine the date of application, give the application number, and after checking the list of documents, issue an acceptance notice to inform the applicant. The application documents are not printed, printed, illegible or altered; Or 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 name or address of the applicant is not known in the request; Or the patent application category is unclear or uncertain, and the patent application sent directly by foreign units and individuals without foreign-related patent agencies will not be accepted. (2) The patent application accepted in the preliminary examination stage will automatically enter the preliminary examination stage if the application fee is paid in accordance with the regulations. Before the preliminary examination, the application for a patent for invention must be examined in confidentiality, and if confidentiality is required, it shall be handled in accordance with the confidentiality procedures. In the preliminary examination, it is necessary to examine whether there are obvious defects in the application, mainly including whether the contents of the examination fall within the scope of the patent law that does not grant the patent right, whether the obvious lack of technical content does not constitute a technical scheme, whether it lacks singularity, 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 statements within the prescribed time limit. If no reply is made within the time limit, the application shall be deemed to be withdrawn. If the defect has not been eliminated after the reply, it shall be rejected. Where an application for a patent for invention has passed the preliminary examination, a notice of passing the preliminary examination shall be issued. In addition to the above examination, the application for a patent for utility model and design shall 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 instruction. (3) Publication stage The application for a patent for invention shall enter the publication stage from the date when the notice of preliminary examination is issued. If the applicant does not make an early request for publicity, it will not enter the public preparation procedure until 18 months after the application date. 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 three months later, the abstract of its instructions was published in the Patent Gazette, and a brochure was published. After the application is published, the applicant has the right to temporary protection.