What are the general requirements for procedures in the approval process
The main procedures that applicants may encounter during the review process are divided into Two categories: The first category is the application review and approval procedures that are required by law or designated by the Patent Office. If the application is not completed without justifiable reasons or is processed beyond the time limit, the application will be deemed to have been withdrawn. These procedures mainly include: submitting a request for substantive examination, responding to various notices from the Patent Office, and paying application maintenance fees; the other type is the request procedures that the applicant can choose to handle as needed in accordance with legal provisions. If this type of procedure does not meet the requirements, the Patent Office may treat the procedure as if it has not been filed, which generally does not involve the application itself. These procedures mainly include: proactive modification and correction of application documents, request for early publication, declaration of change of bibliographic items and request for extension of time limit. The following procedures are explained respectively:
1. Substantial examination request
Only invention patent applications This procedure is required.
A request for substantive examination can be submitted at the same time as the application. It can also be submitted after application, but it should be submitted within the specified time limit from the date of application at the latest. If it is not submitted after the deadline without justifiable reasons or is deemed not to have been submitted due to unqualified procedures, the application will be deemed to be withdrawn.
A request for substantive examination will only take effect after payment of the substantive examination fee . However, if the substantive examination fee is not paid after submitting the substantive examination request, the Patent Office will not immediately issue a substantive examination request for review. If the request does not meet the requirements, the issuance of the substantive examination request will be regarded as a failure to submit a notice or a supplementary notice as appropriate, and a written notice will be issued. Explain the reasons for failure. If the applicant receives a notice of correction, he shall make corrections within the time limit specified by the examiner. If the applicant receives the request for substantive examination and is deemed to have not submitted a notice, he shall resubmit a new request for substantive examination that meets the requirements within the specified time limit from the date of application. If the request for substantive examination passes the examination, the Patent Office will publish it in the Patent Gazette.
While submitting a request for substantive examination, the applicant Qingfa submits reference materials related to its invention before the filing date (before the priority date if priority is claimed). If there are no reference materials, it should be declared. If an application for the invention patent has been filed in a foreign country, the information or results of the foreign search for it must be submitted at the same time; if it is not submitted without justifiable reasons, the application will be deemed to have been withdrawn; if there is a valid reason for being unable to submit it, a statement must be made And explain the reasons, which can be resubmitted after obtaining the information. If the above information is submitted, the reasons should be stated in the request (the request for substantive examination is submitted at the time of application) or the document or attachment column of the request for substantive examination. When submitting a request for substantive examination, the applicant may make a proactive modification or correction to the invention.
2. Reply to various notices from the Patent Office
During the preliminary examination or substantive examination procedures, when the examiner discovers that the application has obvious defects, format defects, or substantive defects, he or she shall notify the applicant in the form of a correction notice or an examination opinion at the designated time. Make corrections, modifications to the application or comment on the deficiencies specified by the examiner within the time limit. The applicant must respond to this. If he fails to respond without justifiable reasons, the application will be deemed to have been withdrawn. Applicants should pay attention to the following points when responding:
(1) Comply with the response deadline, late responses and The consequences of not replying are the same. Except for the first preliminary examination action notice of invention patent application, which has a reply period of 4 months, the reply period of other notices is generally 2 months. However, for particularly simple procedures or in order to speed up the procedure, the examiner may only give 1 months for response. The applicant should pay attention to the deadline specified by the examiner and calculate the last date of reply according to the date stamp stamped by the Patent Office in the upper right corner of the notice.
(2) In response to the examination opinion notice Questions, answered one by one by category. If the applicant fails to respond to a certain aspect or a certain review opinion, it may be deemed to have failed to respond on time, resulting in the application being deemed withdrawn.
(3) Application for patent for invention or utility model The corrections or modifications made may not exceed the scope stated in the original description and claims, and the modifications to the design patent application shall not exceed the scope shown in the original pictures or photos. Otherwise, the application may be rejected.
(4) The response should be submitted in the prescribed format document.
3. Pay the application maintenance fee
This procedure is only required for invention patent applications.
4. Request for early announcement
Requesting early publication is a procedure that the applicant can choose depending on the situation. It is only applicable to invention patent applications.
The Patent Law stipulates that according to normal procedures, an invention patent application shall not be published until 18 months after the application date. After publication, the applicant can obtain the right to temporary protection and apply for The content will become part of the existing technology. Applicants may request for early publication of their applications due to the following considerations.
(1) In order to bring the invention to the market as soon as possible and find a suitable buyer, the content of the invention needs to be announced as early as possible.
(2) In order to prevent others from using the patented invention for free, it is necessary to obtain temporary protection as early as possible.
(3) Obtain a period of due diligence before requesting a substantive trial It may take a long time to listen to the opinions of the market and the public in order to decide whether to submit a request for substantive examination.
(4) Prevent others from obtaining patents for similar inventions by requesting early publication of the contents of their invention patent applications.
Applicants requesting early publication should submit a "Request for Early Publication Statement&q"uot; Make two copies, and indicate the application number, invention title and other necessary bibliographic items of the application requiring early publication. A declaration requiring early publication must be signed and sealed by the applicant. If a patent agent is entrusted, the patent agency may sign and seal it. If multiple applicants have not appointed a patent agent, the applicant's representative may sign and seal the statement.
5. Active modification and correction of application documents
Active modifications and corrections to application documents are also part of the application A procedure that one can choose according to their needs.
When the application documents have various defects, the applicant You can take the initiative to make corrections or make modifications within the time specified in the implementation rules. Correction mainly refers to correcting defects in the form or format of the application, or defects in the procedures. For example: if the original document does not use the unified form developed by the Patent Office, you can take the initiative to correct it and submit qualified documents; if the original request is not signed, you can submit a signed request through active correction; if the application is entrusted to a patent agency, if If a patent agency power of attorney is not submitted when applying, you can take the initiative to correct and submit a patent agency power of attorney.
6. Procedure for changing bibliographic items
The procedure for changing the bibliographic items is also an option that applicants can choose according to their needs. formalities.
After the applicant submits the application, fill in the request letter The inventor, applicant, patent agency, invention name and other contents cannot be changed at will. If changes need to be made, the procedures for changing the bibliographic items must be completed..
When going through the procedures for changing the bibliographic items, the patentee shall The Office submits a declaration form for change of bibliographic items, in which the items to be changed and the circumstances before and after the change are filled in. If it involves changes in the inventor, applicant, or patent agency, it is also necessary to attach supporting materials explaining the reasons for the change and pay the prescribed fees. Specific requirements are explained below:
(1) Change The title of the invention and creation is both part of the request and part of the description. Therefore, if the name of an invention-creation is changed, in addition to submitting the application form for updating the bibliographic item, a statement of opinions explaining the reasons for the change should be attached. The change procedure can only be handled with the approval of the examiner.
(2) Change of inventor and designer There are two types of changes in inventors and designers: one is the change in the name of the inventor or designer, which is only a nominal change and does not involve a change in rights. If the name of the inventor or designer is changed, in addition to submitting the application form for change of bibliographic items, a certificate of name change issued by the household registration department should also be attached. The other is the change of inventor or designer. Since invention rights cannot be transferred or inherited, changes in inventors (including increase or decrease in the number of inventors) are mainly due to improper filing by the applicant or disputes over invention rights.
If the applicant voluntarily donates the application right to others, When the donee goes through the change procedures, in addition to submitting the application form for changes in the bibliographic items, he should also attach a notarized certificate of donation; when the applicant goes through the change procedures, in addition to submitting the application form for changes in the bibliographic items, he should also attach a notarized certificate of donation. Statement of Acceptance by Person.
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