In China, there are three types of patent applications: design patent applications, utility model patent applications and invention patent applications.
Design patent application
To apply for a design patent, you need to prepare six-sided appearance views of the product, and fill in the "Design Patent Application Form" together with a brief description of the design. Submit application documents to the National Patent Office.
After submitting the application, you can get the "Patent Acceptance Notice" in about a week; the Patent Office will issue the "Notice of Grant of Design Patent Rights" and "Notice of Registration Procedures" in about six months; pay After the patent registration fee and annual fee are paid, the license will be issued in about two months.
Utility model patents and invention patent applications
Both utility model patents and invention patents require a patent specification to be written and submitted to the National Patent Office together with the patent application. Since the Patent Law stipulates that invention patents are subject to substantive examination only after the patent specification is disclosed, the purpose of submitting an early disclosure statement is to enter substantive examination as soon as possible and shorten the patent application cycle. Therefore, invention patents also need to submit two documents: "Request for Advance Disclosure Statement" and "Request for Substantive Examination".
After submitting an application for a utility model patent, you can get the "Patent Acceptance Notice" in about a week; the Patent Office will issue the "Notice of Grant of Utility Model Patent Rights" and "Registration Procedures" in about six to eight months Notice"; after paying the patent registration fee and annual fee, the license will be issued in about two months.
After submitting an application for an invention patent, you can get the "Patent Acceptance Notice" in about a week;
After submitting the application, a preliminary review stage will be conducted. If the review is successful, it will be made public in accordance with the advance public statement. The description of the patent applied for will enter the substantive examination stage; if it passes the substantive examination, a "Notice of Grant of Invention Patent Rights" and a "Notice of Registration Procedures" will be issued. After paying the fees in time, the certificate will be issued in about two months. The invention patent application process takes about three years.
If you apply for the above three patents by individuals (limited to individuals from mainland China), you can submit a "Fee Reduction Application" together to request a reduction in application fees and the first three annual fees.