1. First understand the basic knowledge of patents. What is an invention patent? Invention is a technical solution to a specific problem using the laws of nature.

The products it manufactures or the production methods it proposes are unprecedented, or they are improvements to original products and production methods.

Patented inventions can be divided into two categories: product inventions (such as machines, instruments, equipment, appliances) and process inventions (manufacturing methods).

According to the provisions of my country's patent law, an invention patent generally goes through the following procedures from application to authorization: 1. Provide a disclosure letter and entrust an agency to write the application documents, which usually takes 20 days to one month ( If you do not entrust an agency, you can omit this step) 2. Submit the application documents, obtain the acceptance notice from the Patent Office, determine the application date, and submit an advance public statement and request substantive examination on the day of submitting the documents, which can speed up the examination process 3 . The Patent Office will conduct a formal review of the patent application documents, which will take about 2-3 months. After passing the preliminary examination, it will enter the public preparation stage. 4. The Patent Office will publish the invention application documents, which will take about 6-8 months. 5. The Patent Office will conduct a formal review of the invention patent documents. The substantive examination takes about one and a half to two years. During this period, the examiner communicates with the applicant on the essential content of the invention, that is, the novelty, creativity and practicality (the entrusted agency communicates with the agency to determine the appropriate protection scope of the invention), and goes back and forth. The communication may go back and forth several times until the changes are made to the examiner's satisfaction. 6. The Patent Office issues an authorization notice. 7. The applicant goes through the procedures to receive the patent certificate. 8. Obtain the patent certificate after about 2-3 months. The whole process lasts about 2 and a half years. to 3 years, the specific time depends on the review speed of the examiner and the thoroughness of the applicant's information.

What is a utility model patent? Utility model refers to a new solution proposed for the shape, structure or combination of a product that is suitable for practical use.

It only protects products with a certain shape.

Only invention patents can be applied for method inventions and inventions of powders, liquids, materials without a certain shape, etc.

The grant of a utility model patent does not require substantive examination, the procedure is relatively simple and the cost is low.

Therefore, small inventions related to tangible handicrafts in daily necessities, machinery, electrical appliances, etc. are more suitable for applying for utility model patents.

What is a design patent? Appearance design refers to a new design of a product’s shape, pattern, color or their combination that is aesthetically pleasing and suitable for industrial application.

Therefore, the object of protection of a design patent is the decorative or artistic appearance design of a product.

This design can be a flat pattern or a three-dimensional shape, and the more common one is a combination of the two.

The main condition for granting a patent is novelty. The approval process and patent term are the same as those for utility model patents.

Utility model and appearance patents do not pass the substantive examination process, but only pass the formal examination, which takes about 6-8 months. After passing the substantive examination, the Patent Office will issue an authorization notice, and the applicant will go through the procedures for obtaining the certificate after receiving the letter. , it will take about 2-3 months to get the patent certificate after paying the license fee.

The specific time also depends on the examination speed of the examiner and the thoroughness of the applicant’s disclosure materials and the provision of accompanying drawings.

What are the conditions for granting patent rights? The conditions for granting patent rights include two aspects: formal conditions and substantive conditions.

The so-called formal conditions refer to the document formats and necessary procedures necessary for the Patent Office to conduct preliminary examination, substantive examination and grant of patent rights to patent applications.

This means that patent applications must be made in writing and application documents with certain format and content requirements must be submitted.

Substantial conditions can determine whether the invention-creation for which patent protection is applied for is patentable. This is the key to determining whether the patent application can be granted patent rights.

Inventions or utility models that are granted patent rights must be novel, creative and practical.

The essential condition for granting a design is that it is not identical or similar to a design that has been publicly published in domestic and foreign publications or publicly used domestically before the filing date.

Novelty means that the invention or utility model applied for patent does not belong to the prior art, and the design applied for patent is not the same or similar to the existing design.

Creativity means that the invention or utility model applied for patent is progressive and advanced compared with existing technologies of the same type.

Practiceability means that an invention or utility model must be applicable for practical purposes and produce positive effects.

What needs special explanation is: my country’s patent examination system determines that invention requirements are subject to formal examination and substantive examination, while utility models and designs are only subject to formal examination and not substantive examination (so the grant time Soon), so many agencies claim to be 100% authorized.

This is no problem. The key is that it may mislead the applicant: they think that the authorized patent is a valid patent. In fact, utility model and design patents are more likely to be invalidated without substantive examination. Possibly, this is a fact, and it is determined by my country’s patent review system and is also my country’s patent reality.

It should be said that whether it is an invention patent or a utility patent, as long as it is a patent, it must comply with the three requirements of the patent. If it does not meet the three requirements of the patent, even if the patent certificate is obtained through examination during the application process, it may be If it is invalid, it will be invalidated in subsequent infringement lawsuits.

The utility model patent system makes the quality of patents mixed, and a large number of "non-patent" are mixed in the "patent" team, which makes the public have certain doubts about the patent itself. It is foreseeable that when the number of patent applications reaches a certain level, After the number of reforms, there will definitely be a reform and substantive review will be implemented for all, this is for sure.

From the perspective of a patent applicant, sometimes it may be cost-effective to spend less money in exchange for a possibility in a short period of time.

Nowadays, there are more companies applying for patents than individuals, and the public is more aware of patents. Therefore, instead of investing huge advertising costs, it is better to invest less money to apply for patents.

At least it can have a considerable advertising effect.

2. There are two ways to apply for a patent: entrust a patent agency to act as your agent or write the application documents yourself.

It should be said that writing patent application documents is a very technical job. Moreover, applying for a patent is not just a simple matter of writing patent application documents. It will specifically involve the matters involved in the patent. Search comparative documents in the field. If the comparative documents disclose the content of the invention, the agent should communicate with the inventor whether the technical problem can be converted and the corresponding technical solution. If the inventor cannot add new content in this case, the client is advised to withdraw the case; write the application When filing documents, claims and descriptions, we must take into account possible problems that may arise in responding to examination opinions and how to remedy them? In the event of invalidity, the claims can only be modified but not content removed from the description; in the event of infringement, is the scope clearly defined? Whether it can be bypassed, etc. It can be said that before applying for a patent, a qualified agent should have an overall grasp and understanding of the latest technical content in the field involved in the invention, and can well consider the interests of the applicant. , make a layout of the entire application, including whether to apply (can be retained as a technical secret), how to apply (invention, practicality or appearance, whether it is necessary to apply abroad), possible existing technologies (how to avoid them), The possibility of invalidity, infringement analysis, etc. must be grasped at a macro level.

Being able to do the above is the basic requirement for a mature and experienced agent. It is the applicant's luck to find such an agent, and the scope of protection of his patent can be protected the strongest.

Unfortunately, in the current atmosphere in our country, applicants consider more about price, how to minimize agency fees, and quality second. Maybe they think that after being operated by an agent, the results will be bad. It's almost the same.

Faced with such demands from customers, agents have no choice but to lower their service standards. Most agents only do file transfer and format conversion of technical briefing content. This saves time and effort, and the quotation can be lowered all the way. Apply People are happy too.

As for authorization, there is no problem with utility models and designs. As for inventions, as long as the scope of protection is narrowed as much as possible, the examiner will have no objection and everyone will be happy.

When the patent is really needed to work, when the tiger comes out of the cage, the applicant will find that there is a sick cat in the cage. The application fee, agency fee, and annual fee are wasted in vain, and all he gets in exchange is A useless blank piece of paper.

Fortunately, most patent applicants do not care about the quality of the patent when applying for a patent. They only care about the number of applications. As long as the application number is required, they can meet the requirements of the government, declare a technology enterprise, be tax-free, and declare high technology to the outside world. Enterprises can advertise, they can talk to laymen who don’t understand, and they can deceive consumers.

So this game goes on and on.

In order to apply for a patent, many companies or individuals temporarily take a look at the patent law and learn the writing requirements (you can go to the website of the Patent Office of the State Intellectual Property Office of China to learn) to prepare a document that meets the formal requirements. The application process went smoothly, the authorization went smoothly, and the certificate was obtained. The key to the problem was that the "value" of the patent was gone and it was just a paper tiger, used to scare people.

Therefore, we suggest that if the applicant hopes that his patent can truly expand the scope of protection and truly exert the power of a "tiger" in the market, it is better not to worry about the money and to hire the best patent. The most professional agents are here to help you plan.

Selection of agencies and agents: My personal opinion is for reference only. Patents are divided into technical fields, and agents are also divided into technical fields. Each agent has a different technical background, so The fields of specialization are also different. Generally speaking, they are basically divided into the fields of mechanics, chemistry, electricity, and communications. How to judge the quality of an agent? On the one hand, you can search for patents on the website of the Patent Office of the State Intellectual Property Office. By searching the agent in the column, you can find out all the announced cases that he has acted for, and judge the agent's field and level based on the fields to which these cases belong. If an agent spans three major categories (machinery, Chemistry, electricity), we do not recommend choosing such a "generalist" agent. Being broad and broad will not be specialized and refined.

We do not recommend blindly following agents who have been in the industry for many years, because before the mid-1990s, agents did not need to take exams and basically belonged to the establishment of public institutions, and the requirements for patent drafting were also very simple, so this kind of groping The experience is of little significance. After 1999, the patent agency industry began to become formalized. A large number of business agency agencies began to decouple from their affiliated units to establish corporate companies, and the agent examinations in the past few years began to become formal. , the historical opportunity of my country's accession to the WTO has also attracted a large number of talents to pour into this industry. Therefore, we believe that the agents who entered this industry in 2000, 01 and 2002 have been trained for about five years. Based on their comprehensive talent advantages, they have a broad Their international vision is becoming the backbone of this industry, and their agency skills can be said to be quite mature.

The old agents were affected by the previous non-standard agent format and may not be able to do better.

I have been in contact with such an agent. He is almost 80 years old and is still dawdling in representing cases, and I cannot agree with the quality of his representation.

As for those agents who carry out the signboards of certain research institutes, universities, or the signboards of patent office examiners and reexamination committees, such experience is basically meaningless in terms of agency experience.

Agency: We tend to choose agency firms that have a complete range of industries and categories, and whose agents are mainly young and middle-aged people. Such firms are more effective.

Of course, there is also an element of luck. It would be best if you happen to meet an agent with mature agency experience, rich theory and practice, and a serious and responsible agent.

3. Prepare the information required to apply for a patent. If you plan to entrust a patent agency, please prepare the following application materials: To apply for an invention patent, you need to provide the following information: 1. Please provide 1. The applicant’s name or Name (full name), address, postal code; 2. Copy of the applicant’s business license, organization code certificate or personal ID card; 3. Name, address, postal code of the inventor (natural person); 4. Application for the invention patent Contact person’s phone number, fax number, and contact address.

2. Complete the entrustment procedures (official seal of the unit or signature of a natural person).

3. Submit a technical disclosure document. In order for you to write an invention disclosure document more conveniently and for us to better understand the content of your invention and creation, please write the disclosure document in the following format.

1. Name of the invention (simply and clearly reflect that the technical content of the invention is a product, device or method (generally limited to 25 words)) 2. Technical field to which it belongs (a brief description of the technical field to which it belongs, For example: the present invention belongs to an automatic temperature control device, and the present invention relates to the heat treatment method of XX material, etc.

) 3. Prior art (background technology) (Add the state of the art of the same type that is closest to the invention. Analyze and explain, with the help of drawings when necessary, the specific content includes: structure, the position and connection relationship or conditions between components, process, etc., point out the problems of the existing technology realistically and analyze the reasons as much as possible).

IV. Contents of the invention 1. Purpose of the invention (point out the technical problem to be solved by the invention realistically.

) 2. Technical solution (describe it clearly, completely and accurately , in particular, the points of the invention that are different from the prior art should be described as clearly as possible, and not limited to the basic principles of the invention, so that those of ordinary skill in the art can implement it, and each item of the technical solution should be described. When describing technical means (including the position and connection relationship of each structure), correspondingly explain its role in the present invention.

If it is difficult to describe clearly with only words, please explain with drawings. .

Alternative technical solutions or alternative technical requirements, method steps, etc.

If there are any, they should also be proposed to form dependent claims.

) Attachment: If there is an English abbreviation or code name with special meaning, please specify its meaning and the common Chinese name in the industry.

3. Technical effects (corresponding to the technical problems and technical solutions to be solved by the present invention, the effects that can be achieved by the present invention (including social, economic, and technical effects, it is best to have specific Data) be described concretely and realistically, and scientific analysis and test results are the most convincing evidence.

) 5. Drawings and brief description of the drawings (necessary to describe the invention must be provided. Attached drawings (i.e. structural schematics, not engineering drawings), which can clearly reflect the point of invention. For this purpose, various drawing methods can be used to uniformly number and name the components or structures. , relevant prior art drawings should also be provided when necessary.

) 6. Specific embodiments (enumerate examples of implementation of the invention (concrete embodiments of the inventive concept), and give a specific implementation example of the invention. Thus, the invention content of the present invention is partially reflected, including each electrical component and the electrical connection relationship between them. If it is a method, please specify the specific method of each part, including static relationship, dynamic relationship and effect) Attachment: If If an English abbreviation or code name with special meaning appears, please specify its meaning and the common Chinese name in the industry.

Information provided when applying for a utility model patent: 1. Please provide 1. The applicant’s name (full name), address, and postal code; 2. The applicant’s business license, organization code number, or personal ID card Copy; 3. Name, address, and postal code of the inventor (natural person); 4. Telephone number, fax number, and contact address of the contact person who handles the invention patent application.

2. Go through the entrustment procedures (the contract is provided by the agency) 3. Submit a technical briefing, and the agency will review whether you can apply for a patent. If you can apply, the agency will send you an entrustment agreement for signature. The technical disclosure document of the contract can be written in the following eight parts:? The name of the utility model (product)? The technical field to which the utility model belongs? Relevant background technology (state the defects of the background technology)? The purpose of the utility model or what it wants to solve Technical problems? Key points of the technical solution adopted by the utility model? Beneficial effects achieved by the utility model (compare with background technology)? Drawings and descriptions of the drawings (must have)? Specific implementation plans adopted by the utility model (as detailed as possible) ( Drawings in the description refer to the use of graphics to supplement the description of the text part of the description, so that people can intuitively and vividly understand each technical feature and the overall technical solution of the invention.

) Applying for a design patent: 1. Please provide. 1. The applicant’s name (full name), address, and postal code; 2. A copy of the applicant’s business license, organization code certificate, or personal ID card; 3. The name, address, and postal code of the inventor (natural person); 4. , the telephone number, fax number and contact address of the contact person for handling the invention patent application.

2. Complete the entrustment procedures (official seal of the unit or signature of a natural person).

3. Provide pictures or photos of the design (preferably taken with a digital camera)? The pictures or photos refer to the six-sided orthographic view of the design product (ie: front view, rear view) , left view, right view, top view, bottom view) and perspective view.

If there are no design points in the view, it can be omitted; if the view is symmetrical, one view can be omitted. The view size proportions in the above pictures or photos should be consistent. The size of the pictures or photos should be between 3cm×8cm and 15cm×22cm. The background of the picture or photo should be a solid color, and the background should not contain other objects or patterns that are not related to this design.

At the same time, the photo must be free from factors such as strong light and shadow that affect the image effect. To request protection of a color design, one copy of both color and black-and-white pictures or photos must be submitted at the same time. If you are not familiar with the production requirements of pictures or photos, the agency can produce the pictures or photos required for the application on your behalf. 4. Sign an entrustment contract and pay the patent application fee: The patent application fee includes two parts: official fee and agency fee. The general agency fee is as follows The fees for domestic natural persons and legal persons to apply for invention patents are as follows (each item): Invention official fee (yuan) Agency fee (yuan) 1. Patent application fee 9504000-60002. Substantive examination fee 25001000-20003. Patent certificate registration fee 255-4. Patent application maintenance fee (after the third year) 300 (per year) - 5. Annual fee for the year of authorization. Years 1-3: 900. Years 4-6: 1,200... - The fees for foreign natural persons and legal persons to apply for invention patents are as follows ( Each item): Invention official fee (RMB) Agency fee (USD) Total (USD) Patent application fee 950500615 Substantive examination fee 2500150455 Patent certificate registration fee 25580111 Patent application maintenance fee 300 (every year after the third year) Annual fee for the year of authorization 900 or 120050159 or 195 (Note: A fee will be charged for responding to the review opinions depending on the situation) (Note: 1. If the applicant is an organization, the superior authority shall issue a proof of corporate losses. The above application fees, substantive examination fees, and annual fees for the year of authorization may be reduced. 70%, the application maintenance fee can be reduced by 60%; if the applicant is an individual, the application maintenance fee can be reduced by 80%.

2. The response to the review opinions during the substantive examination will depend on the circumstances. Fees.

) The fees for domestic natural persons and legal persons to apply for utility model patents are as follows (per item): Utility model official fee (fees after mitigation in brackets) Agency fee (yuan) 1. Patent application fee 500 (150) ) 2500 (excluding drawings) 2. Patent certificate registration fee 205-3. Annual fee for the year of authorization 600 (180) - The fees for domestic natural persons and legal persons to apply for design patents are as follows (per piece): Design official fee (after slowdown) agency Fee (yuan) 1. Patent application fee 500 (150) 10002. Patent certificate registration fee 205-3. Annual fee for the year of authorization 600 (180) - Note: Each locality may have a patent application funding policy issued by the government, which can subsidize patent fees. , you can consult various agencies. After all, the country’s money should not be wasted.

5. It takes about 10-20 working days for the agent to prepare the application documents, and its efficiency depends entirely on the degree of detail provided by the application materials.

After preparing the documents, the agent will ask the applicant to review the application documents. If there are no problems, the application can be submitted. Generally, a patent application acceptance notice will be issued on the day of application, thus entering the review process.

6. Examination process of the Patent Office. Examiners review the patent process for inventions: According to the provisions of my country’s patent law, an invention patent generally goes through the following procedures from application to authorization: 1. Provide a disclosure document and entrust an agent. It usually takes 20 days to one month for the organization to write the application documents. 2. Submit the application documents, obtain the acceptance notice from the Patent Office, and determine the application date. On the day of submitting the documents, you can also submit an advance public statement and request substantive examination, which can speed up the review. Process 3. The Patent Office will conduct a formal review of the patent application documents, which will take about 2-3 months. After passing the preliminary examination, it will enter the public preparation stage. 4. The Patent Office will publish the invention application documents, which will take about 6-8 months. 5. The Patent Office will review the invention patent. The document undergoes substantive examination, which takes about one and a half to two years. During this period, the examiner communicates with the applicant on the essential content of the invention, that is, the novelty, creativity and practicality (the entrusted agency communicates with the agency to determine the appropriate protection scope of the invention) , the communication may go back and forth several times until the changes are made to the examiner's satisfaction. 6. The Patent Office issues an authorization notice. 7. The applicant goes through the procedures to receive the patent certificate. 8. Obtain the patent certificate after about 2-3 months. The whole process lasts about 2 From one and a half to three years, the specific time depends on the speed of the examiner's review and the thoroughness of the applicant's information.

Utility models and designs: 1. Provide a disclosure document and entrust an agency to write the application documents, which usually takes 10 working days. 2. Submit the application documents, obtain the acceptance notice from the Patent Office, and determine the application date. 3 . The Patent Office conducts a formal review of the patent application documents, which takes about 3-6 months. 4. The Patent Office issues an authorization notice. 5. The applicant goes through the procedures for receiving the patent certificate. 6. The whole process of getting the patent certificate lasts about 2-3 months. About 1 year, the specific time depends on the review speed of the examiner and the thoroughness of the applicant's information.

7. Authorize and handle the licensing matters (pay the licensing fee, and the patent certificate will be issued in about two months). Note that the annual fee must be paid one month before and after the annual application date.

No physical object required.

As long as the idea can be actually produced and implemented.

I sent you a text message about the fee.