Preparatory work before applying for a patent

In society, when someone invents and creates a brand-new technology, they will think of applying for a patent. This is to protect their legal patent rights through law. However, for those who are applying for a patent for the first time, they don’t know what preparations are required before applying for a patent? The editor of Legal Savior Network has compiled the following content to answer your questions. I hope it will be helpful to you.

Preparations before applying for a patent

(1) First consider the market prospects created by the invention, and then decide Whether to apply for a patent.

Since applying for a patent requires payment of application fees, examination fees, annual fees for maintaining the patent, agency fees, etc., therefore, whether the patent can be applied for The economic benefits brought by people are the most worthy of consideration. If it is predicted that the patent will have a larger market after being transformed into a product, or the patent may prevent competitors from inventing, so that the competitors’ inventions will fall within the scope of protection of our company’s patent as soon as they are released, then the patent’s Applying is the right and smart choice.

(2) Conduct a more detailed investigation into whether the project to be applied for patent is patentable.

An invention or use of a new type of patent needs to satisfy novelty and creativity. These requirements are relative to the existing technology. The existing technology includes domestic and foreign patent documents, journals and monographs in the field, etc., and also includes the current use of the technology in the domestic industry. Therefore, a comprehensive investigation of the existing technology is carried out. It is very necessary. If the applicant does not want to invest too much time, energy and money, he should at least search the patent documents, because the patent documents contain the latest technical information at home and abroad.

(3) The application content should be kept confidential before application.

If there are internal or external personnel involved in the process of invention testing or identification, these personnel should be required to sign a confidentiality agreement. If others leak the content without consent, , the applicant should file a patent application within 6 months after the leak. If the application content is disclosed for the first time at an academic or technical conference organized by the relevant competent department of the State Council or a national academic group, or is exhibited for the first time at an international exhibition sponsored or recognized by the Chinese government, Article 24 of the Patent Law shall apply. stipulates that a patent application must be filed within the next 6 months.

(4) Find an experienced and responsible agent.

Since no substantive modifications can be made after the application is submitted, poorly written application documents, especially the claims and descriptions, will become irremediable defects and may even lead to the rejection of the patent.

In addition, if the protection scope of the patent is too narrow and some non-essential technical features are included in the protection scope of the independent claims, competitors will easily avoid the patent without constitutes infringement, and if the scope of patent protection is required to be too broad, the patent may fall into the protection scope of someone else's patent and cannot obtain patent authorization. Even after authorization, it is easy for competitors to claim that the patent is invalid; and other issues, no That’s all.

If your situation is more complex, the Legal Savior Network also provides online lawyer consultation services, and you are welcome to seek legal consultation.