Legal analysis: Patent applications will be notified to be accepted after being submitted to the State Information Bureau, and will be reviewed after paying the full fee. Patent examination is divided into preliminary examination and substantive examination, the latter is only for invention patents. The patent examination process generally lasts 1-3 years, depending on the patent type and invention content. The utility model and design patents are authorized after preliminary examination, while the invention patents that pass the preliminary examination will issue a preliminary examination notice, waiting for substantive examination. When the patent application is under examination, the applicant has no right to prevent others from infringing on his rights. However, after the publication of the invention patent (usually 18 months from the date of patent application), the applicant may ask the infringer to stop the infringement and pay the appropriate royalties, or the infringer may refuse. After the patent is granted, the applicant may pursue the tort liability from the infringer through judicial procedures and demand compensation.
Legal basis: Article 35 of the Patent Law of People's Republic of China (PRC). Within three years from the date of filing, the administrative department for patent in the State Council may, upon the request of the applicant at any time, make a substantive examination of the application. If the applicant fails to request substantive examination within the time limit without justifiable reasons, the application shall be deemed to have been withdrawn.