I. Procedures for granting invention patents
There are six stages: application-acceptance (application number and date)-preliminary examination-publication-substantive examination-authorized publication (announcement, the patent is valid for 20 years).
Two. Procedures for granting patents for utility models and designs
Application-acceptance (application number, application date)-preliminary examination-authorization to issue certificates (announcement, patent validity period 10 year).
Details of each stage are as follows:
1, application
The documents to be submitted in an application for a patent for invention and utility model include the request, the patent claim, the specification, the appended drawings of the specification, the abstract of the specification and other documents. The documents to be submitted when applying for a patent for design include a request, pictures or photographs, a brief description and other relevant documents.
Step 2 accept
After receiving the patent application documents, China National Intellectual Property Administration Patent Office will issue an acceptance notice, determine the date of patent application and give the patent application number. For the lack of necessary application documents or other violations of legal provisions, it will not be accepted.
3. First trial
After receiving the application documents, the Patent Office first examines the application documents and pays the fees. If the preliminary examination fails, the applicant shall make corrections or statements in accordance with the notice; If it still does not meet the requirements, it shall be rejected. If the application for a patent for utility model or design has passed the preliminary examination and no reason for rejection is found, it will directly enter the authorization procedure for authorization.
4. Publications (unique to invention patent applications)
If the application for a patent for invention passes the preliminary examination, it will enter this stage. Where the Patent Office considers that it meets the requirements of the Patent Law after preliminary examination, it shall publish it in the bulletin of invention patent within 18 months from the date of application. The Patent Office may also publish its application at an early date upon the request of the applicant.
5, substantive examination (unique to the invention patent application)
Within 3 years from the date of filing, the Patent Office may, upon the request of the applicant at any time, conduct substantive examination of his application. If the applicant fails to make a request within this time limit, his application will be deemed to have been withdrawn. However, if the request cannot be made in time due to force majeure or other legitimate reasons, a certificate may be issued before the request is made. When the Patent Office deems it necessary, it may also conduct substantive examination of the application for a patent for invention on its own.
Step 6 ratify
After the actual examination of the application for a patent for invention, if the reasons for rejection of the patent for utility model and design are not found after the preliminary examination, the patent right shall be granted and a patent certificate shall be issued. A patent authorized and issued with a patent certificate shall be registered in the Bulletin of Invention Patents, and the patent right shall take effect as of the date of announcement.
Third, the specific work and time of each process.
1, design patent application (6 months -8 months)
To apply for a patent for design, you need to prepare the six-sided appearance view of the product, fill in the application for a patent for design together with a brief description of the design, and submit the application documents to China National Intellectual Property Administration. After submitting the application, you can get the patent acceptance notice in about a week; About half a year later, the Intellectual Property Office issued the Notice of Granting Patent Right for Design and the Notice of Handling Registration Procedures. After paying the patent registration fee and annual fee, the license can be issued in about two months. Therefore, the application for design patent generally ranges from 6 months to 1 year, depending on the examination by the patent office.
2. Patent of utility model (10 month-1 year)
Both utility model patents and invention patents need to be submitted to the patent office together with written patent application documents such as the request, the claim and the specification, among which the application process for invention patents is the most complicated. According to the Patent Law, the invention patent will be examined in substance only after the specification of the application is made public. The purpose of submitting an early public statement is to enter the substantive examination as soon as possible, thus shortening the period of patent application. Therefore, if it is necessary to shorten the application period, it is best to submit two documents at the same time when applying for the invention patent, that is, the request for early public statement and the request for substantive examination.
The authorization period of utility model patent application is generally about 1 year. After submitting the application, you can get the patent acceptance notice in about two weeks; About six to eight months, the patent office will issue a notice of granting the patent right for utility models and a notice of handling registration procedures; After paying the patent registration fee and annual fee, the license can be issued in about two months. If an application for a patent for utility model is processed after 1 month from the date of filing, it will generally be granted in about 6 months.
3. Invention patents (2 -3 years)
The authorization period of an application for a patent for invention is generally about 3-5 years, and there is no clear time limit for examination and approval in law. After submitting the application, you can get the patent acceptance notice in about a week; In the preliminary examination stage, if it is qualified, the specification of the patent application will be made public according to the early public statement, and it will enter the substantive examination stage; Those who pass the actual examination shall be issued with the Notice of Granting Invention Patent Right and the Notice of Handling Registration Procedures; After timely payment, the certificate will be issued in about two months, so it usually takes about three years for the invention patent application process to be smooth.