Patent application: An invention-creation can only be patented after the applicant files a patent application in China National Intellectual Property Administration and is examined and approved by China National Intellectual Property Administration in accordance with legal procedures. In China, there are currently three types of inventions, namely, inventions, utility models and designs.
In the application stage, they are called application for invention patent, application for utility model patent and application for design patent respectively. After being authorized, they are called invention patent, utility model patent and design patent respectively. At this point, the applicant is the patentee of the corresponding patent.