I want to apply for a design patent. Do I have to hire an agency? How to tell whether an agency is a fraud company?

If you are familiar with this aspect, you can apply for it yourself. There is no need to ask the agency. If you don't know anything, it will be faster and more convenient to ask the agency.

As far as the field of patent application is concerned, there are all kinds of patent application agency websites on the Internet, and many so-called patent companies have not been approved by the China National Intellectual Property Administration Patent Office at all, and they do not have the qualification of patent agency at all. Legally speaking, this improper publicity is a serious deception to customers, and the consequence of this illegal agency is to provide a large number of low-priced and low-quality services, which not only disrupts the formal and orderly competition in the market, but also seriously questions the professional ethics of patent agents.

In fact, one of the most effective ways to identify this illegal agent is to check it on the website of China National Intellectual Property Administration Patent Office. Any formal company with patent agency qualification is registered on the website of China National Intellectual Property Administration Patent Office. The patent agency that can't be found is an unqualified patent agency and an illegal agency. Of course, you can also call the local intellectual property office to ask if you have the patent agency qualification.