For the utility model, there is no problem in the process from the submission of the application. If the payment is normal, the patent certificate can be obtained in about 9 months, and the payment is normal every year, which can guarantee 10 year.
Invention patents generally take 2~3 years from filing to final authorization, and the protection period can reach 20 years.
When the patent is granted to the first applicant, there are two situations in this process. 1. When someone else submits an application, the patent you applied for earlier has not been published, and you may grant him a patent right. But when there is a conflict of interest, you can declare the patent right invalid according to your earlier application, that is, someone else's application is useless in the end; 2. When others apply, your previous application has been publicized. If there is an invention patent, the Patent Office will conduct a comparative search review and generally will not authorize it; Utility model patents may still be authorized because they don't need to be searched and compared before authorization, but as before, once there is a conflict of interest, only the patents applied for first will be protected.