Why is the application period for software invention patents so long?

The cycle of all invention patents is about the same, not that the software is long.

1. Invention patents.

1.Scope of applicationInvention patent applications have a wide range of applications, including not only methods, processes, formulas, Chinese and Western medicines, computer software, e-commerce and other technologies.

The field can also include industrial products and daily necessities with three-dimensional shapes and functional structures such as machinery and equipment, machinery, and electrical products, but the former can only.

Apply for invention patents, the latter can also apply for utility model and design patents.

2.Examination Period: Invention patents need to be substantively examined, and the examination period is long, generally taking two and a half years. After obtaining the patent right, it has a high gold content, and the validity period of the invention patent is 20 years.

3.For formalities, a signed or sealed power of attorney and technical disclosure materials shall be provided.

4.Processing time: Obtain the notice of patent acceptance within one week.

2. Utility models.

1.Scope of application: Utility model patents are only applicable to industrial products and daily necessities with three-dimensional shapes and functional structures such as mechanical equipment, machinery, electrical products, etc., and only invention patents can be applied for invention patents, not utility models.

2.Examination Cycle: There is no substantive examination for utility model patents, which is more lenient than the examination of invention patents, and the examination and approval cycle is shorter, and the patent can usually be obtained in one year.

Certificates, utility model patents are valid for 10 years.

3.Formalities.

a.Provide a signed or stamped power of attorney.

b.Provide the structural schematic diagram of the product and mark the parts and components: including assembly drawings, cross-sectional views, three-dimensional drawings, orthographic views, component structure diagrams, local enlarged drawings, etc.

c.Provide technical disclosure materials for patent name, label name, function and function of parts, and technical advantages of the product.

4.Processing time: Obtain the notice of patent acceptance within one week.

3. Design patents.

1.Scope of application: Design patents are applicable to the protection of the shapes, patterns and colors of products with a sense of beauty, such as daily necessities, industrial products, outer packaging, decorative stickers, etc.

2.Examination Cycle: There is no substantive examination for design patents, and the examination and approval cycle is short, usually 8 months to obtain the patent certificate, and the validity period of design patents is 10 years.

3.Formalities.

a.Provide a signed or stamped power of attorney.

b.Provide a sample of the product or a six-sided projection** or drawing of the product.

4.The processing time is to obtain the notice of patent acceptance within seven days.

Legal analysis: for invention patents, in addition to some invention patents that need to be kept confidential, general invention patents need to go through the stages of acceptance, preliminary examination, publication, substantive examination and authorization announcement, under normal circumstances, 18 months from the acceptance will be published, and then the substantive examination stage, a general situation of about 3 years to be authorized, but does not rule out a longer time.

Legal basis: Patent Law of the People's Republic of China Article 39 If no reason for rejection is found in the substantive examination of an application for invention for invention, the patent administration department shall make a decision to grant the invention patent, issue a certificate of invention patent, and register and announce it at the same time. The invention patent right shall take effect from the date of publication.

According to the Patent Law, the examination and approval process for an invention patent application is divided into five stages: acceptance, preliminary examination, publication, substantive examination and authorization, which takes about one and a half to two years. Utility model patent and design patent applications only need three stages: acceptance, preliminary examination and publication, which only take about 6 months. At the acceptance stage, the Patent Office receives the patent application and considers that it meets the conditions for accepting mass burial, and issues a notice of acceptance. There is a preliminary examination stage, which examines the application for obvious formal defects.

Patents are granted for utility models and designs that have passed the preliminary examination. After passing the preliminary examination, the invention patent application will enter the publication stage and enter the substantive examination. During the substantive examination, a comprehensive examination will be conducted on whether the invention patent application has novelty, inventive step, practicability, and other substantive requirements stipulated in the Patent Law.

If there are various defects after examination, the applicant will be notified to state his opinions or make amendments, and if no reason for rejection is found, the patent office will issue a patent certificate and make a public announcement.

Article 34 of the Patent Law*** After receiving an application for a patent for invention, the patent administration department shall publish it immediately after 18 months from the date of application if it finds that it meets the requirements of this Law after preliminary examination. The patent administration department may publish the application at an early date at the request of the applicant.

1. A patent for invention goes through the procedure.

1. Provide a letter of disclosure and entrust a first-class agency to write application documents.

2. Submit the application documents, obtain the notice of acceptance from the Patent Office, determine the filing date, and submit an early disclosure statement and request substantive examination on the day of submission of the documents, so as to speed up the examination process.

3. The Patent Office shall conduct a formal examination of the patent application documents, and enter the stage of preparation for disclosure after passing the preliminary examination.

4. The patent office publishes the invention application documents.

5. The patent office conducts a substantive examination of the invention patent documents, during which the examiner communicates with the applicant on the substantive content of the invention, that is, novelty, inventiveness, and practicability (entrusting the ** agency to communicate with the ** institution to determine the appropriate scope of protection of the invention), and the communication may go back and forth several times until the amendment is satisfactory to the examiner.

6. The Patent Office issues a notice of authorization.

7. The applicant shall go through the procedures for obtaining the patent certificate.

The specific time depends on the speed of the examiner's examination and the detailed information provided by the applicant.

Legal analysis: For the invention patent of the Royal Bureau, except for some invention patents that need to be kept secret, general invention patents need to go through the stages of acceptance, preliminary examination, publication, substantive examination and authorization announcement, under normal circumstances, 18 months from the acceptance of the publication will be published, and then the substantive examination stage, generally about 3 years to be authorized, but it is not excluded that a longer period of time.

Legal basis: Article 39 of the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China If no reason for rejection is found in the substantive examination of the invention patent application, the administrative department of the patent shall make a decision to grant the invention patent right, issue the invention patent certificate, and register and announce it at the same time. The invention patent right shall take effect from the date of publication.

The patent right of each invention is time-limited and has a term of protection of 20 years, which is also one of the characteristics of patent rights as intellectual property rights that distinguish them from the ownership of tangible property. When the term of a patent for invention has expired or is terminated early, the patent right does not exist even if the technology still exists. As a result, the inventor's exclusive right to use the technology will not exist, and anyone can use the poor social wealth created by the invention for free.

1. What patent rights are protected for a period of 20 years.

The term of protection of an invention patent is 20 years from the date of filing. The law clearly stipulates that the scope of protection of an invention or utility model patent must be subject to the content of the claims. The design patent right is based on the patented product of the design in ** or **, and the description and drawings can be used to interpret the claims.

2. The term of patent protection is several years.

How many years does patent protection last? Paragraph 1 of Article 42 of the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that the term of an invention patent right is 20 years, the term of a utility model patent right is 10 years, and the term of a design patent right is 15 years, all of which are calculated from the filing date.

Article 44 of the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that a patent right shall be terminated before the expiration of the term under any of the following circumstances:

1) Failure to pay annual fees in accordance with regulations;

2) The patentee renounces its patent right by a written statement.

If the patent right is terminated before the expiration of the term of the patent right, it shall be registered and announced by the patent administration department.

3. How to stipulate the scope of protection of design patents.

The scope of protection of appearance patents includes:

2. The scope of protection of the design patent right shall be subject to the design patent product indicated in ** or **;

4. Patent protection period: 20 years for invention patents and 10 years for utility model patents and designs from the date of application;

5. If the patent protection period expires and the annual fee is not paid or the patent is voluntarily waived, the patent right is no longer protected. The independent claims comprise a preamble part and a feature part;

Article 42 of the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that the term of an invention patent right shall be 20 years, and the term of a utility model patent right and a design patent right shall be 10 years, both of which shall be calculated from the filing date.