1. The patent application was voluntarily withdrawn.
After the application is filed, the applicant may voluntarily withdraw the patent application due to changes in circumstances. For example:
(1) It is found that the application content does not fall within the scope of patent protection;
(two) found that there are serious defects in the writing of the application documents, which may lead to the application not being approved, or the scope of protection will be severely restricted;
(3) It is found that the application lacks patentability, and it is meaningless to proceed to the next procedure;
(4) The applicant requests to apply for a confidential patent, but the competent department of the State Council does not agree. After consideration, the applicant thinks it is more beneficial to keep the invention secret.
To request the withdrawal of a patent application, a "patent application withdrawal statement" shall be submitted in duplicate, indicating the application number, invention name and applicant of the withdrawal application, and all applicants shall sign and seal it. Where a patent agency is entrusted, the patent agency may handle it on its behalf, but it shall attach a certificate that all applicants agree to withdraw the application.
Once the patent application is withdrawn, the applicant and his heirs may not request its restoration.
If an application for a patent for invention is withdrawn before the publication of the preparation procedure, it will not be published after the withdrawal, but if it is withdrawn after the publication of the preparation procedure, the application will be published as usual. The preparation procedure for publication generally starts from the15th month from the date of application. However, if there is a request for publication in advance, it will enter the publication preparation procedure from the time when the formal examination is qualified, and if there is a priority request, it will enter the publication preparation procedure from the first 15 month from the priority date.
The declaration of withdrawing the patent application shall be made before going through the formalities of patent authorization registration. After going through the registration formalities, the Patent Office immediately entered the announcement preparation procedure. Even if the applicant requests to withdraw the patent application, the Patent Office will publish the authorization and patent specification as usual.
Where an application for a patent for invention is withdrawn before publication and an application for a utility model or design has been registered, the Patent Office shall keep the application documents confidential; And manage according to the application documents before and after publication until the documents are destroyed.
2. The application is deemed to be withdrawn and resumed.
In the process of examination, if the applicant fails to go through the examination and approval procedures within the time limit prescribed by law or designated by the Patent Office without justifiable reasons, his application shall be deemed to have been withdrawn.
Some applicants are unwilling to enter the procedure because of time, energy, economy and other considerations, and deliberately do not go through the formalities; Some applicants don't understand the law and the approval process is delayed. Others postponed the deadline for just reasons.
In practice, the Patent Office can't distinguish these different situations, so it should send a notice of withdrawal to anyone who fails to go through the prescribed procedures within the prescribed time limit. The reasons for the withdrawal were stated in the notice. If the applicant has justified reasons, he shall explain the justified reasons to the Patent Office within two months from the date of receiving the notice of deemed withdrawal, and request the restoration of rights.
To request the restoration of rights, a "Request for Restoration of Rights" shall be submitted in duplicate, explaining the legitimate reasons for delaying the time limit; At the same time, due to the obstruction of legitimate reasons, all the formalities that should be handled and the fees that should be paid should be completed. The cost of handling the formalities should generally be completed within the above two months. If it is really difficult to complete it within two months, it shall request the Patent Office to extend the time limit; The person who requests the restoration of his rights shall also pay the prescribed fee. If the applicant is hospitalized due to illness, which delays the processing time of the actual trial request, the application is deemed to be withdrawn. At this time, if the applicant requests to resume the application, he shall submit the request for the restoration of rights in duplicate, pay the fee for the restoration of rights, go through the formalities for the actual trial of the request and pay the fee for the actual trial of the request.
The request to restore rights needs to be approved by the patent office. The main basis for the examination and approval of the Patent Office is:
(1) Whether the right restoration request, the right restoration request fee, other formalities to be completed and the fees to be paid have been completed within two and a half months after the notice of deemed withdrawal is issued;
(2) Whether the justifiable reason is established, generally speaking, only the reasons that the applicant has no fault or can forgive are considered as justifiable reasons.
If the Patent Office does not agree to the resumption, it shall notify the applicant of the decision not to agree to the resumption. If the applicant refuses to accept this, he may file an administrative reconsideration with the Administrative Reconsideration Office of the Patent Office within 15 days after receiving the notice of disapproval.
3. Reject the application and request a review.
In the examination procedure, after the applicant has stated his opinions or made amendments or corrections according to the requirements of the examiner, if the Patent Office considers that the application still does not conform to the provisions of the Patent Law and its detailed rules for implementation, it shall make a decision to reject the application and notify the applicant in writing.
If the applicant refuses to accept the decision of the Patent Office to reject the application, he may, within 3 months from the date of receiving the notice, request the reexamination board of the Patent Office for reexamination.
The request for reexamination shall be submitted in duplicate, which shall specify the reasons for reexamination, and the reasons for reexamination shall be aimed at the matters requested in the rejection decision of the Patent Office.