1. Form of procedures When the applicant handles various procedures with the Patent Office during the approval process, it should be done in writing and use the unified forms formulated by the Patent Office. There are currently 36 types of request forms formulated by the Patent Office. In addition to 10 application forms including three types of requests, descriptions, claims, abstracts, drawings to the description, drawings to the abstract, design drawings or photos, and a brief description of the design, commonly used formality forms include: patent agency power of attorney, Request for fee reduction, statement requesting early publication, request for substantive examination, supplement and correction, statement of opinion, request for restoration of rights, request for extension of time limit, request for reexamination, etc. The formality form must be filled out correctly in accordance with the instructions for filling out the form and must be signed by the requester. One procedure form allows only one procedure for one patent application. For example, one amendment can only amend and correct one patent application. Two or more patent applications are not allowed to be amended on one amendment. It is also not allowed to amend one patent application on one amendment. It not only goes through the supplementary and correction procedures, but also requires other procedures, such as requesting to change the applicant's address. If there is no unified form, in addition to stating what the applicant wants to explain or request, the name of the applicant should also be stated, as well as the application number and invention name of the patent application for which the procedure is intended, and as far as possible Include an appropriate title at the top of your submission. For example, if the inventor requests that his name not be published, he can write the title "Inventor's request not to publish his name" at the top of the submitted request, and then indicate the application number of the involved application, the name of the invention, the name of the applicant, or the name of the applicant. , and then write down the content of the declaration, and of course it must be signed by the inventor at the end. 2. Submission of formalities Forms or documents for various procedures, unless otherwise specified, should be made in duplicate, one is the original and the other is a copy. After the formality form is submitted or mailed to the Patent Office Acceptance Office, the date hole will be punched by the acceptance office, and after verification and registration, one copy will be returned to the applicant as a receipt. If the applicant submits or sends the formal documents to the individual examiner, or to other departments or individuals in the Patent Office, it will not have any legal effect unless the recipient transfers the documents to the acceptance office to complete the acceptance formalities. For documents transferred to the acceptance office, if the envelope has been opened, the date of transfer shall be the date of processing. Therefore, in order not to waste time, applicants should not send their applications to individuals. According to the provisions of the Implementing Rules, one letter should only contain documents for the same application. Therefore, if an applicant handles several procedures at the same time, unless the application documents are for the same application, they must not be packaged in the same registered letter when mailed. When submitting formal documents in person, if several formal documents are involved, it should be explained and several formal documents must not be stapled together. When mailing documents to the Patent Office, several formal documents for the same patent application can be placed in one registered letter, but there should be a list of documents and several formal documents must not be stapled together. 3. Fees and deadlines for procedures. If the procedure requires payment of fees, the procedures will not take effect until the applicant pays the fees as required. For example, if a request is made to change a bibliographic item, the bibliographic item change application form must be submitted at the same time, or the bibliographic item change fee must be paid within one month at the latest. If the applicant fails to pay the relevant fees within the time limit, the change application procedure will be deemed to have not been filed. . When an applicant pays a handling fee, the application number, name of the applicant, purpose of the fee, amount and address and name of the payer shall be written. Procedures with time limits stipulated by law or designated by the Patent Office must be completed before expiration. Procedures completed after the expiration date will be invalid or deemed not to have been filed. If the documents are mailed, the date of processing will be the date of mailing; if the documents are delivered in person, the date of document payment will be the date of processing. If the procedure involves fees, the applicant shall also pay the prescribed fees before the expiration of the time limit. 4. Basic requirements for filling in the formality form. The formality form begins with a bibliographic item (i.e., the application number, applicant, title of invention, patent agency, etc.), which should be completely consistent with the content filled in the request.
If the inventor, applicant or patent agency changes due to various reasons, the formalities for changing the bibliographic items should be completed with the Patent Office in a timely manner. You are not allowed to change these items in other formal documents on your own, as this will invalidate the procedures or be invalid. deemed not to have been raised. For example, if a certain application is transferred but does not go through the applicant change procedures, and when making a request for substantive examination, the transferee fills in his or her name in the applicant column of the request for substantive examination without authorization. , this request for substantive examination is naturally invalid, so the request for substantive examination is deemed not to have been made. Applicants should make clear requests when handling various procedures and should not use ambiguous or pre-conditional language. For example, an applicant may write in a statement requesting early publication: "If this application is expected to be approved, please publish it in advance", or write in a supplement and correction: "If the examiner believes that the supplement and correction exceed the scope, please transfer the application to acceptance." "As a new application", the Patent Office will treat it as a filing of a type of procedure or request. The various formality documents handled must not contain offensive or defamatory language against patent office staff, applicants or other persons, as well as content unrelated to the procedure itself. Opinions of Patent Office staff, or reports and exposure of illegal and dereliction of duty by Patent Office staff, should be reported separately to the Patent Office Supervision Division, Director, or the Party’s disciplinary inspection department. If the above-mentioned content is included in the formality document, it should be deleted. If the deletion is not agreed, the procedure will be deemed not to have been filed. 5. All formal documents for certification and signature must be signed and sealed in accordance with regulations, and the signature and seal must be exactly the same as the name filled in the request. In actual examination, it sometimes happens that the signature and the name filled in the request are inconsistent. For example, the name in the request form is "Beijing Electroplating Factory" and the signature is "Beijing Electroplating Factory". Although the difference is not big, the validity of the signature and seal cannot be determined during review. The signature may not be copied. Procedures involving changes in rights, for example: when a change is made and the applicant withdraws a patent application, the signatures and seals of all applicants should be present. Other procedures can be handled with the signatures and seals of the applicant's representative. If a patent agency is entrusted, the signature and seal of the patent agency should be obtained. handle. If the procedures need to be accompanied by specific supporting documents or attachments, the supporting documents and attachments shall be originals or copies, and no photocopies shall be used. If there is only one original copy, a copy can be used, but it must be accompanied by a certificate issued by a notary office that the copy is consistent with the original. 6. Legal effect of formal documents The formal documents submitted by the applicant will have legal effect once approved by the Patent Office (some of them need to be announced). After the procedure takes effect, the applicant shall not request to cancel the procedure. For example, after the applicant submits a "request to withdraw the patent application statement" and the patent office approves it, he may not request to cancel the withdrawal statement. After the various procedures completed by the applicant take effect, they will be legally binding on the applicant and his successors.