Patent is the abbreviation of patent right. It refers to an invention-creation, that is, an invention, utility model or design is granted the exclusive right to the invention-creation within a specified period of time after an application for a patent is filed with the patent administration department of the State Council and passed the examination according to law. Patents can be divided into three categories: inventions, utility models and designs. How to distinguish? For example, the development of telephone can apply for invention patent; You can apply for a utility model patent when changing a desktop telephone to a wall-mounted telephone; Cartoon phones (such as making a phone look like a dog) can apply for a design patent. 1) Propriety: Propriety is also called "exclusivity". The so-called exclusivity refers to the exclusive right of the patentee to manufacture, use, sell and import and export his invention. That is to say, no other unit or individual may manufacture, use, sell, promise to sell and import or export its patented products for production or business purposes without the permission of the patentee, use its patented method, or manufacture, use, sell, promise to sell, and import or export products directly obtained according to its methods without the permission of the patentee. Otherwise, it is a patent infringement. 2) Regionality: According to the principle of patent independence stipulated in the Paris Convention, the regionality of patent right means that the patent right granted by a country in accordance with its own patent law is only valid within the scope of the country's legal jurisdiction and has no binding force on other countries. Foreign countries do not undertake the obligation to protect their patents, and only one invention is patented in China, so the patentee only enjoys the patent right or exclusive right in China. If someone produces, uses or sells the invention in other countries and regions, it is not an infringement. 3) Timeliness: It means that the exclusive right granted by the patentee to his invention and creation is only valid within the time stipulated by law. After the expiration of the time limit, the patentee no longer enjoys the exclusive right to manufacture, use, sell, promise to sell and import his invention and creation. Duration of patent right, the protection period of invention patent, utility model patent and design patent stipulated in China's current patent law is 2 years, 1 years and 1 years respectively from the date of application. 4) Invisibility: the patent right is intangible, and many people often regard this feature of the patent right as the object of protection-the technology protected by the patent right. In fact, the invisibility is the patent right itself. Otherwise, as for a trademark, its object is a pattern, which is obviously not intangible. The Intellectual Property Course compiled by the World Intellectual Property Organization in 1988 expounds the concept of modern patent documents: "Patent documents are the general name of published or unpublished documents (or their abstracts) containing the relevant materials that have been applied for or confirmed as discoveries, inventions, utility models and industrial designs, as well as the relevant materials that protect the rights of inventors, patent owners and holders of industrial designs and utility model registration certificates." The course further points out: "Patent literature generally refers to the official publications of patent offices in various countries." For example: patent specification, patent bulletin, patent abstract, patent index, patent classification table, etc. The so-called patent documents, in a narrow sense, refer to the patent specifications and claims published by the patent administrative department of the State Council; In a broad sense, patent documents also include abstracts of instructions, patent bulletins, various retrieval reference books and legal documents related to patents. At present, most countries and regions in the world have established patent systems, and many countries and organizations publish patent documents in official languages. According to the statistics of the World Intellectual Property Organization, 9%-95% of the inventions in the world can be found in patent documents, and many inventions can only be found in patent documents. It can be said that patent literature records almost every new technological achievement made by human beings and is the most authoritative encyclopedia of world technology. What should be done when two or more units or individuals file separate patent applications for the same invention? The patent law is based on the basic principle that the patentee enjoys the exclusive right to his invention-creation patent. Therefore, an invention should only be granted a patent right. In other words, if an invention is granted more than two patents, it will violate the principle of patent exclusivity. This principle is called "one invention and one patent principle" in Japan and "the principle of eliminating duplicate patents" in the United States. When several units or individuals apply for patents for inventions and creations of the same content, only one of them can be granted a patent right. Who should the patent right be granted to? There have always been two principles in patent laws of various countries. First, the principle of invention first. That is, when two or more applicants apply for a patent for the same invention respectively, no matter who applies for a patent first, the patent right is granted to the applicant who completed the invention first. At present, only the United States and the Philippines adopt the principle of first invention. Second, the principle of first application. That is, when two or more applicants apply for a patent for the same invention respectively, no matter who finished the invention first, the patent right is granted to the applicant who filed the patent application first. Most countries in the world adopt the principle of first application. China adopts the principle of first application. Units or individuals in our country should file a patent application in time after completing their invention-creation. If they file an application too late, others may file a patent application first and lose the opportunity to obtain a patent right. However, the idea of invention-creation is not yet mature, or the application documents have not been fully prepared, so it is not appropriate to file a patent application in a hurry, otherwise there will be problems in the subsequent examination and approval procedures, which will also affect the acquisition of patent rights. The object of patent protection refers to the object of patent protection, that is, the invention and creation that can be protected by patent. According to the provisions of China's patent law, the objects of patent protection refer to inventions, utility models and designs. These three are collectively called "invention and creation". However, in China, the assignment of utility models and designs is protected by patents, but it should not be considered as "patents" as mentioned in the Paris Convention. Therefore, different countries have different regulations on the object of patent protection. After accepting an application for a patent for invention, the administrative department for patent in the State Council must examine it in accordance with the procedures stipulated in the Patent Law. The main examination procedures of an application for a patent for invention include preliminary examination, publication of the patent application, request for substantive examination and substantive examination. Preliminary examination refers to the examination of whether the patent application meets the formal requirements and obvious substantive defects stipulated in the Patent Law and its detailed rules for implementation. The substantive examination is mainly to examine whether the patent application meets the substantive conditions for granting the patent right. The patent specification has broad and narrow interpretations. In a broad sense, patent specification refers to all kinds of specifications published by patent offices or international patent organizations. Including the application specification that has not been patentable, such as German public specification, Japanese public charter bulletin, China invention patent application public specification, etc. And patent specifications that have undergone patentability examination, such as American patent specifications, invention specifications of the former Soviet Union, and invention patent specifications of China. Patent specification is the main body of patent literature. Its main function, on the one hand, is to disclose new technical information, on the other hand, it is to determine the scope of legal protection. Only in the patent specification can we find all the technical information of patent application and accurate legal information of patent protection scope. According to the statistics of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), at present, more than 9 countries (regions) and organizations publish patent documents in about 3 languages, and more than 1 million patent documents are published every year. Among them, Japan, the former Soviet Union, Germany, the United States, France, Britain, Canada, Australia, the European Patent Office and the World Intellectual Property Organization have the largest publications, accounting for about 8% of the world's annual patent literature publications. These statistics are mainly in terms of patent specifications. In a narrow sense, a patent specification refers to a patent specification that has been patented and granted a patent right. This is a description of an application for a patent for invention that has not been examined in substance (patentability) and has not been granted a patent right. According to the provisions of China's patent law, the system of early disclosure and delayed examination is implemented for invention patent applications. After an application for a patent for invention is filed, it will be published 18 months after it has passed the preliminary (formal) examination, and the prospectus for an application for a patent for invention will be published. Similar specifications published in other countries include: Japanese Patent Gazette, European Patent Application Specification, German Publication Specification, etc. This is a specification published in accordance with China's Patent Law in 1985, which has undergone substantive (patentability) examination and has not yet been granted a patent right. According to the Patent Law of 1985, within three years from the date of filing, the Patent Office may, upon the request of the applicant at any time, conduct substantive examination of the application. Those who pass the actual examination shall be examined and approved, announced and published with the instructions for examining and approving the application for a patent for invention. The objection period is three months from the date of announcement. If there is no objection or the objection reason is untenable at the expiration of the period, the patent application will be granted a patent right. In order to reduce repeated publication, patent specifications are generally no longer published. In 1993, the patent law abolished the objection procedure, and the instructions for the examination and approval of the invention patent application also stopped publishing. Japan's announcement of the charter bulletin also belongs to this category. Re-examination means that the patent applicant refuses to accept the rejection of his patent application by the patent administration department of the State Council and requests the Patent Reexamination Board to re-examine his patent application or invention-creation patent. Inventions and utility models for which patent rights are granted shall be novel, creative and practical. Novelty means that no identical invention or utility model has been published in domestic and foreign publications, used in China or known to the public in other ways before the application date, and no identical invention or utility model has been applied to the patent administration department of the State Council by others and recorded in the patent application documents published after the application date. Creativity means that compared with the existing technology before the filing date, the invention has outstanding substantive features and remarkable progress, and the utility model has substantive features and progress. Practicality means that the invention or utility model can be manufactured or used and can produce positive effects. The design for which the patent right is granted shall be different from or similar to the design that has been published in domestic and foreign publications or used publicly in China before the filing date, and shall not conflict with the legal rights previously obtained by others. To obtain a patent right, the first step should be to file a patent application with China National Intellectual Property Administration. To apply for a patent, you must submit the application documents such as the request, specification, and patent claim, and pay the application fee. Patent application documents and patent application fees can be submitted to China National Intellectual Property Administration Shanghai Patent Agency. An invention-creation that can obtain a patent right needs many conditions. First of all, it has substantive conditions, that is, it is patentable; Secondly, we must meet the formal requirements stipulated in the patent law and perform various procedures. An application that does not meet the above conditions will not only be impossible to obtain a patent, but also cause a great waste of time, energy and financial resources for both the applicant and the Patent Office. In order to reduce the blindness of patent application and save the manpower and material resources of both the applicant and the patent office, the patent applicant must make the following preparations before applying. 1) Learn and be familiar with the Patent Law and its detailed rules for implementation, and learn in detail what a patent is, who has the right to apply for and obtain a patent, and how to apply for and obtain a patent. At the same time, we should also know the rights and obligations of the patentee and how to maintain and implement the patent after obtaining it. 2) Investigate in detail whether the project to be patented is patentable. Before making a decision on whether to file a patent application, you should have a wide grasp of the information and fully understand the status of the existing technology. If there is obviously no novelty or creativity (or originality), you don't need to file another application. Because the existing technology includes patent literature, non-patent literature, authoritative journals and monographs of this major, and also includes the technical status of the same industry in China, it is a very detailed and complicated work to make a comprehensive investigation of the existing technology. Nevertheless, the investigation of the existing technology is still an indispensable link. The applicant should at least search the patent literature, because the patent literature contains the latest technical information at home and abroad, and has a more scientific classification method, which can often help the applicant. In addition, the retrieval consulting center under the Patent Office also has paid retrieval service before applying for a patent. If the applicant is financially permitted, naturally this is the quickest way to investigate the existing technology. 3) It is necessary to seriously consider patent application from the perspective of market economy. You must pay the application fee and examination fee when you apply for a patent. If you are approved, you must also pay the patent registration fee and annual fee. If you entrust a patent agency, you must also pay the agency fee. This is a considerable investment. The applicant should carefully predict and investigate the possibility and scope of the development of his invention-creation technology and the conditions of the technology market and commodity market, so as to make clear the conditions for implementing and transferring the patent after obtaining the patent right and the possible economic benefits, and the possible market and economic losses caused by not applying for the patent. These are all important factors that an applicant should take into account when deciding whether it is worth applying for a patent, what patent to apply for (invention, utility model or design) and when to apply for a patent. 4) Understand the writing format and requirements of patent application documents, the submission method of patent applications, the expenses and the brief examination and approval process. The patent law stipulates that once an application is submitted, it cannot be substantially modified, so the application documents, especially the instructions, are not well written, which will become irreparable defects, and may even lead to good invention content, but no patent can be obtained. A poorly written claim often limits the scope of patent protection. Failure to understand the application procedures and approval procedures will often lead to legal consequences such as the application being regarded as withdrawn. There are many skills in writing application documents, and handling various application procedures is also very detailed and demanding. If the applicant is not sure, it is best to entrust a patent agency to handle the application procedures. 5) Other matters that should be paid attention to before application: a. In order to ensure the novelty of patent application, the applicant should keep the contents of the application confidential before filing a patent application. If other people participate in the process of invention test or appraisal, they shall be required to keep it confidential, and a confidentiality agreement may be signed if necessary. In order not to lose novelty, an application shall be filed within 6 months after the appraisal meeting or technical meeting, which has been organized or held by the competent ministries and commissions of the State Council or national academic organizations. To apply for a patent for invention or utility model, a request, a specification, its abstract, a patent claim and other documents shall be submitted. The request shall specify the name of the invention or utility model, the name of the inventor or designer, the name and address of the applicant, and other matters. The specification shall give a clear and complete description of the invention or utility model, which shall be subject to the realization of the technical personnel in the technical field; When necessary, there should be attached drawings. The technical points of the invention or utility model should be briefly explained. The patent claim shall be based on the specification, indicating the scope of patent protection. To apply for a patent for a design, the applicant shall submit a written request, pictures or photographs of the design and other documents, and shall specify the product using the design and its category. When the inventor cannot handle various patent matters such as patent application in accordance with the provisions of the Patent Office, he may entrust a patent agency to handle relevant matters. Patent agency, as its name implies, refers to applying for a patent for a party's invention to the Patent Office on behalf of others.