How to determine the date of patent application? What is the importance of the application date?

Patent protection has a certain time limit. Invention patent protection for 20 years, utility model patent and design patent protection 10 years. The starting date of these protections starts from the date of application. So how to determine the date of patent application? What is the importance of the application date? How to determine the date of patent application? Article 28 of the Patent Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) stipulates that the date when the patent administrative department of the State Council receives the patent application documents is the filing date. 1. If the applicant submits the documents to the Patent Office in person, the date when the Patent Office receives the documents is the filing date; 2. If the application documents are mailed, the postmark date of mailing shall be the application date. 3. If the postmark is vague or illegible, the Patent Office will notify the applicant. If the applicant can submit evidence of the exact date when the application documents were sent in the post office, the date of sending the documents will be the application date; 4. Where the applicant can't provide relevant supporting documents, the date of receipt of the application documents by the patent administrative department of the State Council shall be the filing date. What is the importance of the date of patent application? 1, the start and end date of the protection period The Patent Law stipulates that the start date of all patent protection periods shall be counted from the date of patent application. The protection period of invention patent right is 20 years, and that of utility model and design patent is 10 year. 2. Impacting the Exercise of Patent Priority Article 29 of China's Patent Law stipulates that if an applicant files a patent application for the same subject in China within 12 months from the date when the invention or utility model is first filed in a foreign country, or within 6 months from the date when the design is first filed in a foreign country, he may enjoy the priority according to the agreement signed between the foreign country and China or the international treaties to which the foreign country is a party, or according to the principle of mutual recognition of priority. Applicants who file an application for a patent for invention or utility model for the first time in China within 12 months on the same subject with the patent administration department of the State Council may enjoy priority. The purpose of patent priority is to exclude the possibility that other countries copy this patent and apply for registration first. Therefore, patent priority is very important for some displayed patents. The exercise of patent priority will also be affected by the filing date. 3. The date of patent application affects the novelty of invention and creation. In patent examination, the existing technology used to judge novelty and creativity is based on the technology before the first application date. The difference of application date seriously affects the novelty of invention and creation. How to determine the date of patent application? What is the importance of the application date? We are here to answer this question for you. If you have more questions about patents, you can continue to pay attention to Bajie's intellectual property rights or contact us by phone.