What are the types of patents?

There are three kinds of patents: invention patents, utility model patents and design patents. The invention mentioned in the invention patent law refers to a new technical scheme proposed for a product, method or its improvement. Product invention should be a tangible or intangible object with specific functions or characteristics that has been manufactured manually or by machine. Such as machinery, equipment, instruments, medicines, chemicals, synthetic gas, etc. However, unprocessed natural products cannot be used as invention patents, such as natural gems, ores, petroleum and so on. Method invention refers to the method of producing, processing and manufacturing products. The methods mentioned here can be chemical methods, mechanical methods and technological methods. , can be a new product manufacturing method, can also be a new manufacturing method of existing products. An invention can be an original invention, an improved invention, a combined invention, a utility model, etc. Utility Model The utility model mentioned in the Patent Law refers to a new technical scheme for the shape, structure or combination of products, which is suitable for practical use. Generally speaking, utility model is actually a structural invention, that is, a product invention that realizes a certain function through a specific structure. A product invention whose structure and function are closely related may apply for patent protection for invention, utility model, design or both. What kind of patent protection to apply for is often considered from the creativity of the invention, the market and the technology itself. The term "design" as mentioned in the Patent Law on Design refers to a new design that is aesthetically pleasing and suitable for industrial application, which is made by the shape, pattern or their combination of products and the combination of color, shape and pattern. The design patent must be a product, and this product is visible, with a certain shape, pattern, color or their combination. This kind of product is not elaborate, so it can't form an industrial mass-produced handicraft. It can be the product itself, the packaging and decoration of the product, the label of the product and so on. It can be a complete product or a part of a product. It can be designed specifically for product appearance or combined with product structure. Therefore, the design patent can also protect the structure of some products to a certain extent, that is, indirectly protect the structure of products.