What is an invention patent?
Invention is a technical solution to a specific problem by using natural laws. Its product or proposed production method is unprecedented, or it is an improvement on the original product and production method. Patent inventions can be divided into product inventions (such as machines, instruments, equipment and appliances) and method inventions (manufacturing methods).
According to the provisions of China's patent law, an invention patent generally goes through the following procedures from application to authorization:
1. It usually takes 20 days to one month to provide a disclosure letter and entrust an agency to write the application documents (if there is no entrusted agency, this step can be omitted).
2. Submit the application documents, get the notification of acceptance from the Patent Office, determine the application date, and submit an early public statement and request substantive examination on the day of submitting the documents, which can speed up the examination process.
3. The Patent Office will formally review the patent application documents for about 2-3 months, and enter the public preparation stage after the first trial is passed.
It takes about 6-8 months for the patent office to publish the invention application documents.
5. The time for the Patent Office to substantially examine the invention patent documents is about one and a half to two years, during which the examiner communicates with the applicant on the substantive content of the invention, namely novelty, creativity and practicality (entrusting the agency to communicate with the agency to determine the appropriate protection scope of the invention), and this communication may be repeated many times until it is revised to the satisfaction of the examiner.
6, the patent office issued a notice of authorization
7. The applicant shall go through the formalities for obtaining the patent certificate.
8. It takes about 2-3 months to get the patent certificate.
The whole process lasts about two and a half to three years, and the specific time depends on the speed of the examiner's review and the informative degree of the applicant's disclosure.
What is a utility model patent?
Utility model refers to a new practical scheme for the shape, structure or combination of products. It only protects certain shapes of products. Method inventions and inventions of powders, liquids and materials without certain shapes can only apply for invention patents. The patent for utility model is granted without substantive examination, with simple procedures and low cost. Therefore, small inventions about tangible handicrafts such as daily necessities, machinery and electrical appliances are more suitable for applying for utility model patents.
What is a design patent?
Appearance design refers to a new design that is aesthetically pleasing and suitable for industrial application for the shape, pattern, color or their combination of products. Therefore, the object of design patent protection is the decorative or artistic design of products. This design can be a plane pattern or a three-dimensional shape, and more commonly it is a combination of the two. The main condition for granting a patent is novelty, and its examination and approval procedures, patent period and utility model patent are the same.
It takes about 6-8 months for utility model and appearance patents to pass formal examination rather than substantive examination. After the actual examination is passed, the Patent Office will issue a letter of authorization, and the applicant will go through the licensing formalities after receiving the letter, and it will take about 2-3 months to get the patent certificate after paying the licensing fee. The specific time also depends on the speed of the examiner's examination, the informative degree of the applicant's public information and the provision of the attached drawings.
What are the conditions for granting a patent right?
The conditions for granting patent right include two aspects: formal conditions and substantive conditions.
The so-called formal conditions refer to the necessary document formats and procedures that the patent office should perform when conducting preliminary examination, substantive examination and granting patent rights. In other words, a patent application should be filed in written form, and the application documents with certain format and content requirements should be submitted.
Substantive conditions can determine whether an invention-creation applying for patent protection can be patented, which is the key to determine whether a patent application can be granted a patent right. An invention or utility model granted a patent right shall be novel, creative and practical. The necessary condition for granting a design is that the design is not the same as or similar to the design published in domestic and foreign publications or publicly used in China before the application date.
Novelty means that the invention or utility model for which a patent is applied does not belong to the existing technology, and the appearance design for which a patent is applied is not the same as or similar to the existing design.
Creativity means that the invention or utility model for which a patent is applied is progressive and advanced compared with the existing technology of the same type.
Practicality means that the invention or utility model must be practical and can produce positive effects.
What needs special explanation is:
China's patent examination system determines that inventions require formal examination and substantive examination, while utility models and designs only require formal examination and not substantive examination (so the authorization time is very fast), so many agencies claim 100% authorization. This is no problem. The key point is that it may mislead the applicant: the authorized patent is considered as a valid patent. In fact, utility model and design patents may be deemed invalid without substantive examination. This is a fact, determined by China's patent examination system, and also the patent reality in China.
It should be said that whether it is an invention patent or a utility model patent, as long as it is a patent, it must meet the requirements of the three characteristics of the patent, but not the requirements of the three characteristics of the patent. Even if the patent certificate is obtained through examination in the application process, it may be invalid, and it will also be invalid in subsequent infringement lawsuits.
The utility model patent system makes the quality of patents mixed, and a large number of "non-patents" are mixed in the ranks of "patents", which makes the public have some doubts about the patents themselves. It is foreseeable that after the number of patent applications reaches a certain number, there will definitely be reforms, and all of them will go through substantive examination, which is certain. From the patent applicant's point of view, sometimes it may be cost-effective to spend less money in exchange for a possibility in a short time. Nowadays, there are more enterprises applying for patents than individuals, and the public also agrees with patents. Therefore, instead of investing huge advertising fees, it is better to invest less money to apply for patents. At least it can play a considerable advertising effect.
Generally speaking, business ideas cannot be patented. The key is whether your creativity can be combined with specific products. For example, an advertising method is to advertise on a pure water bottle, which can be written as a bucket with an advertising page and can be patented.