In China, there are three types of patents: invention patents, utility model patents and design patents. Authorized invention patents and utility model patents should be novel, creative and practical.
In the process of examination and approval, invention patents need to go through five stages: acceptance, preliminary examination, publication, actual examination and authorization. Generally speaking, it takes about 18 months from acceptance to publication. If it is required to be announced in advance, it can be announced after the preliminary examination, with an average of about 6 months, which can save about one year.
It will take about 1 year and a half to two years to complete the authorization after the actual trial. Of course, it will be longer under special circumstances.
For utility model patents and design patents, the examination and approval only need to go through three stages: acceptance, preliminary examination and authorization, which is much shorter than the authorization period of invention patents, generally within 6 months.
Legal basis:
Article 34 of the Patent Law of People's Republic of China (PRC)
After receiving an application for a patent for invention, the administrative department for patent in the State Council, after preliminary examination, finds that it conforms to the provisions of this Law, and shall publish it immediately after 18 months from the date of application. The patent administration department of the State Council may publish its application at an early date upon the request of the applicant.