1. What is the term of protection for utility model patents
What is the term of protection for utility model patents? ten years.
The termination of patent rights can be divided into:
(1) Expiration of term according to the reasons for termination Termination: The utility model or design patent right shall be maintained for 10 years from the date of application and shall be terminated in accordance with the law;
(2) Termination for non-payment of fees: The patentee fails to comply with the regulations If the annual fee and late payment fee are paid or paid in full, the patent right shall be terminated from the expiration date of the previous year.
2. Application process for utility model patent
1. Application Stage
Utility model application documents should include: utility model patent request, description, description drawings, claims, abstract and abstract drawings. A utility model patent application must have a description and accompanying drawings. If a patent agency is entrusted, a letter of authorization should be submitted. To apply for fee reduction, a request for fee reduction and corresponding supporting documents should be submitted.
2. Examination stage
China implements a preliminary examination system for utility model patent applications. During the preliminary review process, the examiner will issue a notice of correction to address formal issues in the application documents. The applicant makes supplements and corrections to the notice. At the same time, the examiner will examine whether the client is a client protected by the utility model patent. If there is a client who is not protected by the utility model patent, the examiner will issue an examination opinion notice, and the applicant will respond to the examination opinion notice or review the application documents. Revise.
Utility model patents only undergo preliminary examination, and there is no substantive examination like invention patent applications. Mainly examines whether a utility model patent application has a patentDocuments specified in Article 26 of the Law and other necessary documents, whether these documents comply with the prescribed format, including examination of the following items:
Utility model patent application Whether it clearly falls within the provisions of Article 5 and Article 25 of the Patent Law, or clearly does not comply with the provisions of Article 18 and Article 19, Paragraph 1 of the Patent Law, or clearly does not comply with Article 31 of the Patent Law Article 1, Article 33, Article 2, paragraph 3, Article 22, paragraph 2 or 4 of the Patent Law regarding novelty and practicality; whether it is obviously inconsistent with Article 20 of the Patent Law Article 6, paragraph 3 or 4, Article 31, paragraph 1, Article 33, or the patent right cannot be obtained in accordance with Article 9 of the Patent Law; the Patent Office shall notify the applicant of the examination opinion , requiring the applicant to state its opinions or make corrections within a specified period; if the applicant fails to respond within the specified period, his application will be deemed to have been withdrawn. After the applicant has stated its opinions or made corrections, if the Patent Office still considers that the application does not comply with the provisions listed in the preceding paragraph, it shall reject it.
3. Authorization stage
(1) Authorization: After passing the preliminary review, the examiner will Issue a notice of grant of patent rights. After receiving the notice of grant of patent right, the applicant needs to go through the following registration procedures: pay the patent registration fee, annual fee for the year of authorization, announcement printing fee and patent certificate stamp tax within the specified period.
(2) Certificate issuance: The applicant can obtain a patent certificate after completing the registration procedures. This period is about 2-3 months.
Through the detailed introduction above, we know that the legal protection period for utility model patents is 10 years, which is the same as the protection period for industrial designs. . Of course, the law will only provide protection after the patentee has paid the annual fee in full and on time. If your situation is more complicated, this website also provides online lawyer consultation services. You are welcome to seek legal consultation.
