To apply for a patent, you do not need to make a product.
In China, patents are divided into three types: invention patents, utility model patents and design patents. The content of the examination of invention or utility model patents is whether the technical solutions constituting the patent meet practicality, novelty and creativity; The content of the design patent review is whether the design is an existing design (similar to whether it satisfies novelty).
The method of patent examination is the same all over the world. The main method is to compare the patent content in the document you submitted with the massive amounts of various documents retrieved to see if the above requirements are met. If so, then Patent rights may be granted, but otherwise patent rights cannot be granted.