Classification of patent types
China's patent law protects three objects, namely invention, utility model and design. These three articles were approved as invention patent, utility model patent and design patent respectively after the applicant's application and examination by China Patent Office.
Article 2 of the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of China's Patent Law stipulates: "Invention as mentioned in the Patent Law refers to a new technical scheme proposed for a product, method or its improvement.
The term "utility model" as mentioned in the patent law refers to a new technical scheme suitable for practical use for the shape, structure or combination of products.
The term "design" as mentioned in the patent law refers to a new design that is aesthetically pleasing and suitable for industrial application, which is made on the shape, pattern, color or their combination of products. "
How do applicants choose the type of patent application?
When considering what kind of patent to use to protect your invention, the applicant should generally consider the following aspects:
First of all, consider the basic requirements of which patent the invention meets.
Generally speaking, you can apply for a utility model patent for the improvement of a specific product, but you can only apply for a design patent for the improvement of the product appearance or the novel plane pattern used on the product or their combination. In addition, generally consider applying for an invention patent. Specifically, if a patent application involves two or more products with the same general inventive concept, you can apply for a patent for invention or utility model; If a patent application according to the same general inventive concept contains two new technologies or manufacturing methods, or a product and a method dedicated to manufacturing the product, or a product and its use, or a product, a method dedicated to manufacturing the product and its use, or a product, a method dedicated to manufacturing the product and a device specially designed for implementing the method, or a new method and device specially designed for implementing the second method, and so on.
Second, consider the effectiveness of three kinds of patent protection.
China adopts the system of early disclosure and late review for the application for a patent for invention. The applicant shall not enter the substantive examination procedure until he has submitted his own substantive examination request and paid the examination fee. According to China's patent fee regulations, China Patent Office will conduct a "trinity" review of invention patent applications and grant invention patents to inventions that meet the requirements. Therefore, the right of invention patent is reliable and stable, and there is little possibility of disputes after authorization. China implements the registration system after formal examination for utility model patent applications and design patent applications. In the examination and approval stage, the "three characteristics" of the application are not examined in substance, but only the completeness of the application documents and procedures is examined in form. Therefore, the reliability and stability of the rights of utility model and design patents after authorization are poor, and it is more likely that they will be revoked or invalidated by the administration after authorization.
Third, consider the duration of patent protection and the inventor's cost tolerance.
The examination of invention patents takes a long time and costs a lot, but its protection period is long; The patent examination time of utility model and design is short, the right is relatively easy to obtain and the cost is low. However, its protection period is short. In a word, when choosing the application type, the applicant should combine the different characteristics of the three patents and his specific interests. In principle, for some core invention technologies or products with high technical level, strong market competitiveness and long use time, we can consider applying for invention patents. For the partial improvement of these core technologies or products, we can consider applying for a utility model patent. As for some products with short production cycle, low investment and fast update, it is also appropriate to apply for utility model patents. For the novel design of product shape, pattern and color, you can consider applying for a patent for appearance design.