2. Design patents: Design patents protect new, original and decorative designs of products. The protection period is fourteen years from the date of registration. ?
3. Plant patents: the protection of plant patents is a new and unique new plant variety copied through asexual or sexual reproduction. The term of protection is 20 years from the date of application.
2. patent application flow chart? (1) submission route
The applicant can submit the US patent application through the Paris Convention, the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and directly to the US Patent and Trademark Office. ? Please refer to the United States application practice guide for the required documents and specific requirements.
(2) Brief introduction of patent application process
The inventor, enterprise or its authorized person submits the application → USPTO acceptance department receives and gives the application number → the application department conducts formal examination and determines the application date, and completes document processing and data collection → classification → assigns the application to the examination department for examination according to the classification number: formal examination and retrieval → substantive examination → applicant's reply → review → making a final decision, etc. Those who are dissatisfied with the decision can appeal to the Patent Appeal and Conflict of Rights Committee. ? For details of each process, please refer to the US Application Practice Guide.
Three. Brief introduction of some application processes (for details of each application process, please refer to the US Application Practice Guide)? 1. Temporary application
It can be called domestic priority, and the temporary application cannot be directly authorized, but it can be changed into a formal application within 12 months from the date of application or can claim the priority of the temporary application when applying for a formal application within 12 months.
2. Information disclosure statement
According to relevant laws and practices, the US Patent and Trademark Office requires the patent applicant to undertake the obligation to inform all prior technologies involved in the patent when handling patent applications.
3. Continue the application.
On the basis of the original application, the application to modify the scope of patent protection is a continuation application without modifying the essence of the invention.
4. Continue to apply in part.
On the basis of the original application, an application for partially modifying the essence of the invention is called a partial continuation application.
5. US patent re-licensing application
The core of reapplication is to allow the patentee to restart the examination of the application within two years from the date of formal patent authorization, so as to obtain the right to adjust the protection scope relative to the original authorized protection scope.
6. Ways to speed up the examination of American patent applications
Applying for a patent in the United States is a long process. In recent years, in order to speed up the examination, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has launched a series of procedures to speed up the examination, so as to relieve the pressure of the backlog of cases, including speeding up the examination, giving priority to the examination, and suing the patent expressway. ?
Four. Authorization conditions According to the relevant provisions of the United States Patent Law, a patent application under any of the following circumstances cannot be granted a patent right:
1. Duplicate authorization
According to Article 10 1 of the US Patent Law and Section 804 of the US Patent Examination Procedure Manual, only one patent right can be granted for the same invention-creation.
2. It is not an object protected by the patent law.
The objects that cannot be patented include but are not limited to human organs, natural laws, physical phenomena, abstract concepts, mathematical methods, and substances that exist in nature in a natural state. In China, some objects that cannot be patented, such as computer software, business methods, diagnosis and treatment methods of animals and diseases, are all objects that can be protected by patent law in the United States.
3. It does not conform to the relevant provisions of Article 1 12 of the United States Patent Law.
(1) The description shall give a clear and complete description of the invention and creation, which shall be subject to the knowledge of the technical personnel in the technical field, and the best embodiment for realizing the invention and creation shall be disclosed in the description;
(2) The specification shall include one or more topics required to be protected by the patent application and their scope;
(3) For the claim defined by functional technical features, the specific structure, materials or equivalent description for realizing this function shall be disclosed in detail in the specification.
4. Does not meet the requirements of novelty.
In any of the following circumstances, the patent right will not be obtained:
? (1) Before the filing date, the invention-creation right has been patented, or described in publications, or publicly used, sold or otherwise known to the public; or
? (2) The invention-creation is described in the patent granted according to Article 15 1, or in the patent application published or deemed to be published according to Article 122(b), and in this case, the patent or patent application is signed by other inventors and has been effectively filed before the filing date of the invention-creation.
5. Do not meet the requirements of creativity
Although an invention meets the relevant requirements of novelty, the difference between the content of the patent application and the existing technology is so small that when the invention is completed, it is obvious that a person skilled in the art cannot obtain a patent.
6. Information disclosure obligations
According to paragraph 37CFR 1.56 of the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the United States Patent Law, everyone who participates in the patent application has the obligation to disclose information related to patentability to the United States Patent and Trademark Office. This obligation exists as long as there are claims under review. A patent will not be granted if there is fraud or attempt to cheat the patent office, or if there is malicious or intentional violation of information disclosure obligations. ?
Verb (abbreviation of verb) Overview of American patent examination The US Patent and Trademark Office is mainly responsible for patent examination and disclosure. The United States Patent and Trademark Office receives patent applications from various countries every year, and the number of applications is increasing year by year.
? 1. Application amount and pending period data
? 2, review and invalid procedures
In the United States, there are two ways for third parties to invalidate patent rights. One is to file an application for patent invalidation directly to the accepting court or the trade commission of the US Congress in patent infringement litigation; The second is to file a patent invalidation request with the Patent Trial Appeals Board of the US Patent and Trademark Office. The following procedure can be used to declare a patent invalid in whole or in part.
? (1) unilateral review process
? A third party may, from the date of patent authorization, request invalidation on the grounds that the patent has been published, and the reasons for invalidation involved are limited to novelty and creativity.
? (2) Post-grant review.
The third party can only submit the program within nine months after the patent is granted. The invalid reasons involved can be any invalid reasons stipulated in the US patent law. This procedure is only applicable to patents with filing date (including priority) after 201March 3 16.
? (3) Procedures for mutual review (parts review)
The third party can only apply for the procedure nine months after the patent is granted, and can only apply for starting the procedure after the reexamination procedure is terminated after the patent is granted. This procedure applies to all patents granted before or after the effective date of the American Invention Act (AIA). The review procedures of both parties can only be based on public publications. ?
The application for trademark of intransitive verbs in the United States is based on use, which can be divided into actual use and intentional use. The latter needs to provide a certificate of use within 6 months after passing the approval notice. The term of trademark right is 10 year. ?
Trademark application procedures mainly include application, examination and objection procedures. In the objection procedure, there are links such as evidence search and inquiry. ?
Seven, copyright in the United States, copyright registration is not the premise of the right holder to obtain rights, but it is the premise of the right holder to file a lawsuit.