1. Progress is different: in the process of patent creativity examination, invention patents need to have "outstanding substantive characteristics and remarkable progress", while utility model patents only need to have "substantive characteristics and progress". The level of creativity of utility models is lower than that of inventions, so some people call utility model patents "small inventions" or "small patents".
2. Different examination and approval procedures: The Patent Law stipulates simplified examination and approval procedures for utility model patent applications, and utility models only undergo preliminary examination, while invention patents need substantive examination in addition to preliminary examination.
3. From the time limit of invention patent protection; The validity period of invention patents is 20 years, which is longer than that of utility model patents and design patents. As we all know, the protection period of a patent right cannot be extended, and the technological achievements will be made public after the time limit. Therefore, it is more reliable to apply for an invention patent.
legal ground
The term "design" as mentioned in Article 2 of the Patent Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) refers to a new design that is aesthetically pleasing and suitable for industrial application based on the shape, pattern or combination of products and the combination of colors, shapes and patterns. It can be seen that the design patent shall meet the following requirements: (1) refers to the design of shape, pattern, color or their combination; (2) It must be the design of product appearance; (3) it must be beautiful; (4) It must be suitable for industrial application.
Article 27 of the Patent Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) Where an applicant applies for a patent for design, he shall submit a written request, a picture or photograph of the design, a brief description of the design and other documents. The relevant pictures or photographs submitted by the applicant shall clearly indicate the design of the product for which patent protection is required.