As far as an invention-creation is concerned, as long as it meets the application conditions (novelty, creativity and practicality) stipulated in the patent law, it can apply for a patent, but not every qualified invention-creation needs to apply for patent protection. Patent application is an act of protecting the exclusive right of invention and creation by law to safeguard the technical and economic rights and interests of the patentee. Regardless of the cost of the behavior itself, whether to apply for a patent should first consider whether it can bring benefits to the patentee. Benefits come from the market. If there is a market, we should also consider whether there is competition. Only by protecting the market in competition can we consider applying for a patent. Some technologies are very specific, such as processing methods and special equipment that only meet the needs of a certain aspect. Peer plagiarism is unlikely. If there is not a strong enough market, there is no need to apply for a patent. Some products are widely used and have a certain market. Everyone is using it, but there is no competition. Each has its own scope and field of application. For example, the auger of brick machine needs to be made according to the performance of raw materials. You have your market and I have mine. There is no competition and there is no need to apply for a patent. There are also some technical know-how, such as the processing of a certain material and the construction method of a certain part of the kiln. Different people have different effects on the same drawing, and there is no need to apply for a patent for "technical secrets". If the patent is made public, it will objectively harm the rights and interests of technology holders. On the contrary, we should decide to apply for patent protection as soon as possible for some products whose structure or appearance are easy to be copied.
2. Consideration of application type
When an invention decides to apply for a patent, the first thing to consider is what kind of patent to apply for. It is necessary to protect the market to the maximum extent in the competition and to spend less money. The patent law stipulates that besides method patents, invention patents are also needed, and product patents depend on their vitality in the market. Under normal circumstances, in addition to groundbreaking inventions, a large number of new products are suitable for applying for utility model patents, and some products can only be protected by applying for design patents. Its advantages are short patent approval period, low maintenance cost and short protection period, which is in line with the characteristics of rapid product technology update. For example, when the world's first mud extruder came out, there was an invention patent application, and later, both compact and combined types had utility model patent applications listed. Of course, twin-screw extruder is more suitable for applying for utility model patent. As for whether it is appropriate for some new inventions to apply for the whole invention patent or to improve the utility model patent, this should be considered comprehensively. This consideration is not only technical, but more importantly, the market and economic analysis. For example, the first vacuum mud extruder should be suitable for applying for the invention patent of the whole brick machine, and should not apply for the utility model with the theme of "vacuum chamber of brick machine", which is obviously not cost-effective; It is better to apply for the utility model patent of floating shaft of brick machine, but it is not cost-effective to apply for the invention patent of "floating shaft brick extruder". In addition, for the pass design of perforated brick and hollow brick, you only need to apply for appearance design, and you don't need to apply for utility model patent in the name of "modular brick" and "frame filled brick". In particular, the flower and pattern of clear water wall tiles are more suitable for applying for design patents. Especially for the same technical scheme, it is not necessarily beneficial to apply for multiple types of patents. Sometimes, a later applied patent for product design can be declared invalid based on the drawings of the earlier applied patent for utility model, or a later applied patent for utility model can be declared invalid based on the earlier applied patent for design.
3. Grasp the application opportunity
The patent law of our country implements the principle of first application, and the patent right will be granted to the person who applies first. Therefore, once you decide to apply for a patent, you should apply as soon as possible. What I want to explain here is that applying for a patent and reporting scientific and technological achievements are completely different. As far as products are concerned, the application of the results needs the effects of design, sample preparation, pilot test or industrial test for a period of time. And the patent is just a technical solution. As long as its technology is novel and has new functions, ordinary technicians in the same industry can carry out industrial manufacturing according to this scheme and apply for patents. As for manufacturing the prototype, testing, improvement, industrial manufacturing and sales are within the scope of patent implementation. Many inventors in our industry spend a lot of manpower and financial resources from creation to testing, processing and improvement, and only when they feel that everything is ready and find the market threat do they think of applying for a patent. This is actually a misunderstanding. It not only increases the invention cost, but also bears the risk of losing market opportunities and patent novelty.
4. Selection of agents and agents
When deciding to apply for a patent, we should also consider whether to entrust an agent. For ordinary individuals and enterprises, entrusting patent agents to apply for patents is the best way. Patent application documents not only have strict legal procedures, but also their contents are directly related to whether they can pass the examination and approval, whether they can authorize and protect the invention to the maximum extent, and even contain the basis for modifying copies in the future. The quality of the application documents actually reflects the quality of the patent right. The usual problem is that the documents written by the applicants themselves have been returned and revised by the Intellectual Property Office for many times, and there is really no agent. The result is not satisfactory, because subsequent amendments must not go beyond the scope of the first application, which is both time-consuming and time-consuming. Another common problem is that no matter whether you write a document yourself or entrust an agent to apply, even after the authorization is successful, the contents of the document do not substantially protect the elements of invention and creation, or the priority order is reversed, or the protection focus is improperly selected, or even words are omitted, which lays a time bomb for future transfer, implementation and dispute resolution. Entrusting an agent to apply for a patent can basically avoid omissions to the greatest extent, objectively speed up the examination and approval, and define the maximum protection scope. The entrusted agent must go to the patent agency registered in the Chinese Intellectual Property Office and entrust a patent agent who has the qualification of patent agent, works in a patent agency and is registered in the Chinese Intellectual Property Office. Don't look for a "black agent" for low cost, so as not to add trouble to yourself and affect the legal protection of your invention. Some lawyers also advertise that they can represent patent applications, which is not in line with the regulations. A lawyer's agency also requires a lawyer to have the qualification of a patent agent, sometimes called a patent lawyer. However, at present, there are very few lawyers with patent agent qualifications. Although there is no accurate data, it is estimated that there will be no more than 200 lawyers with both lawyer qualification and patent agent qualification in China.