Analysis:
Concept and characteristics of patent
The word patent often appears in our daily life, and it usually has three different meanings:
First of all, it refers to the patent right. From the legal point of view, patent usually refers to patent right. The so-called patent right refers to the exclusive right enjoyed by the patentee for his invention and creation within the time limit prescribed by law. It should be noted that the patent right does not arise naturally when the invention is completed, but is applied by the applicant in accordance with the procedures prescribed by law and can only be obtained after being approved by the patent administration department of the State Council.
Second, it refers to inventions and creations that have obtained patent rights. For example, the "patent" in the sentence "This technology is my patent" refers to the technology that has been granted a patent right.
Third, it refers to patent documents. Refers to patent bulletins and patent specifications published by patent offices in various countries, as well as patent documents published by relevant departments. A legal document that records the details of the invention and the technical scope protected by law. What we call "patent retrieval" refers to consulting patent literature.
Patents, like other intellectual property rights, have three characteristics: exclusivity, regionality and timeliness.
exclusiveness
Exclusivity refers to the invention and creation of the same content, and the state only grants one patent right. The patentee enjoys exclusive rights. Without the permission of the patentee, no unit or individual may manufacture, use, promise to sell, sell or import its patented products for the purpose of production and operation, or use, promise to sell, sell or import products directly obtained according to the patented methods by using its patented methods. Here is a case about the exclusive right of patent. Harold Lansberg, an American, invented the electrostatic spray painting process, applied for patents in many countries and obtained patents. Because the application of this patented technology can save nearly half of the paint, and the paint of the product is uniform, bright and beautiful, after being publicized by newspapers and periodicals, enterprises in various countries have copied it one after another. Lansberg took the patent right as a weapon and filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the United States and other countries to investigate the legal responsibility of the infringer. Because of patent protection, he won the lawsuit, defeated Ford Motor Company, General Motors and other large enterprises in the United States, and won compensation of 4 million dollars in the United States alone. He went to Japan, and 400 infringing enterprises lined up for compensation.
regional
Regionality, that is, space restriction, refers to the patent right granted by a country or region, which is only valid in that country or region and has no legal binding force in other countries or regions. Therefore, if an invention is to be protected by law in many countries or regions, it must be patented in these countries or regions respectively.
(3) timeliness
The temporality of patent right means that patent right has a certain time limit. The patent laws of various countries have their own regulations on the effective protection period of patent rights, and the starting time for calculating the protection period is also different. Article 42 of China's Patent Law stipulates: "The term of the invention patent right is 20 years, and the term of the utility model patent right and the design patent right is 10 years, both of which are counted from the date of application. If the patent right expires before the statutory time limit or for some reason, anyone can use it for free. At present, among the published and approved patent applications in the world, there are about 30 million patents that have expired or expired. These patents have become the public wealth of the world and can be used free of charge.
Patent types: invention patent, utility model patent and design patent.