According to Article 4 of the Patent Law, inventions and creations involving national security or vital interests need to apply for confidential patents in accordance with relevant regulations. Generally speaking, inventions involving national security mainly refer to inventions specially used for national defense or of great value to national defense; Inventions and creations involving major national interests refer to inventions and creations involving other major interests other than national security. The publicity of these inventions will affect the national defense ability, damage the political and economic interests of the country or weaken the economic and technological strength of the country. An invention-creation applying for a secret patent does not include design.
It is said that any invention or utility model completed in China must be submitted to the patent administration department of the State Council for confidential examination before applying for a patent in a foreign country. According to the law, if a patent for an invention or utility model is applied for in China without confidentiality review, the patent right shall not be granted.