According to China's Patent Law, the approval process for invention patent applications includes five stages: acceptance, preliminary examination, publication, actual examination, and authorization. Utility model or design patent applications do not undergo early publication and substantive examination in the approval process, so there are only three stages. The following is a schematic diagram of the approval process for patent applications:

There are many conditions that need to be met to obtain authorization for inventions and creations, including whether the invention and creation are patentable objects, whether the disclosure of the specification is sufficient, whether the claims are clear, supported by the specification, whether they have singularity, whether the technical solution being protected has novelty, creativity, and practicality, whether the modifications to the application documents exceed the scope, and so on. Among them, novelty, creativity, and practicality are substantive conditions for obtaining patent rights. The requirements for invention patents and utility model patents in China's Patent Law are novelty, creativity, and practicality, which are the so-called 'three property' standards. 1. Novelty Novelty refers to the invention or utility model not belonging to the existing technology; No unit or individual has filed an application for the same invention or utility model with the patent administration department of the State Council before the application date, and it is recorded in the patent application documents or published patent documents after the application date. The time standard for novelty in our country is determined by the application date. Any invention or creation that has been completed and published by others or by the inventor himself before the application date (excluding that date) will lose its novelty and cannot be patented again if the substantive content of the invention or creation is disclosed at a press conference, scientific research appraisal meeting, or exhibition. 2. Creativity Creativity refers to the outstanding substantive features and significant progress of the invention compared to existing technology, and the utility model has substantive features and progress. (1) The prominent substantive features and significant progress of invention patents. The "prominent substantive features" refer to the obvious essential differences between the invention and the prior art, which are not obvious to ordinary technical personnel in the technical field to which the invention belongs. They cannot directly derive all the necessary technical features that constitute the invention from the prior art, nor can they obtain them through logical analysis, reasoning, or experimentation. Significant progress "refers to the significant progress made in the technical effects of an invention compared to existing technologies. It is manifested in the invention solving technical problems that people have been eager to solve but have not yet succeeded in, overcoming technical biases, proposing a new research route, achieving unexpected technical effects, and representing a new technological trend. (2) Substantive characteristics and progress. For utility model patents, their creativity standard is lower than that of inventions, as long as they differ from existing technologies and have progress, they can be considered to have creativity. 3. Practicality Practicality refers to the ability of the invention or utility model to be manufactured or used, and to produce positive effects. (1) Industrial practicality The industry here is a broad concept, which includes various industries such as agriculture, mining, forestry, aquaculture, transportation, and transportation. An invention or utility model has industrial applicability as long as it can be manufactured or used in any industrial sector. (2) Repeatability and reproducibility This refers to technical personnel in the relevant technical field who can repeatedly implement the technical content in the patent application based on the publicly available application documents. This repeated implementation does not rely on any random factors and the implementation results are the same. The overall architecture of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, which is based on specific geographical locations, does not have reproducibility. (3) Beneficial After the implementation of patented technology, it should be able to produce positive effects and have good technical, economic, and social benefits.

The time scale for determining novelty is divided by the date of application, but Article 24 of the Chinese Patent Law provides for the following three exceptions: 1. Inventions or creations that are first exhibited at international exhibitions hosted or recognized by the Chinese government and have applied for patents within six months from the date of exhibition may be considered not to have lost their novelty. International exhibitions hosted by the Chinese government, including those organized by the State Council, various ministries and commissions, or approved by other agencies or local governments. 2. An invention or creation first published at a designated academic or technical conference and applied for a patent within six months after publication; Without losing novelty. The academic or technical conferences referred to here refer to academic or technical conferences organized and held by relevant competent departments of the State Council or national academic organizations, excluding academic or technical conferences organized and held at or below the provincial level or under the commission of various ministries and commissions of the State Council or national academic societies. 3. If someone discloses the content of an invention or creation without the consent of the applicant, the applicant may still consider that the novelty has not been lost by applying for a patent within six months from the date of disclosure. The disclosure of an invention or creation by others without the consent of the applicant, including the disclosure of the content of the invention or creation by others without complying with express or implied confidentiality agreements, as well as the disclosure of the content of the invention or creation by others through threats, fraud, or espionage activities from the inventor or any other person who has been informed of the content of the invention or creation by them. The disclosure of the above situations is against the wishes of the applicant and is illegal. For these exceptional circumstances, Chinese law stipulates a grace period for application. However, if applying for a patent abroad, the preferential protection of grace period may not exist. Because regulations vary from country to country. Therefore, whether to disclose the technology before applying for a patent should be carefully considered. Moreover, in both cases (1) and (2) mentioned above, even in China, only the first exhibition or publication of the invention is protected. Re publication during the preferential period and patent applications independently made by others for the same invention will result in the loss of novelty of the invention or creation.

1. Object that does not comply with the provisions of Article 2, paragraphs 2, 3, and 4 of the Patent Law Article 2, paragraphs 2-4 of the Patent Law define invention, utility model, and respectively. Therefore, an invention and creation application must first meet its corresponding definition. For an invention, it refers to a new technical solution proposed for a product, method, or improvement thereof. This is a general definition of the patentable subject matter of the invention, and is not a specific examination standard for determining novelty or creativity. A technical solution is a collection of technical means that utilize natural laws to solve a technical problem. Technical means are usually reflected by technical features. A solution that does not use technical means to solve technical problems in order to obtain technical effects that conform to natural laws is not subject to the provisions of Article 2 (2) of the Patent Law. Odors or signals or energy such as sound, light, electricity, magnetism, waves, etc. are also not subject matter as defined in Article 2 (2) of the Patent Law. But those who use their properties to solve technical problems do not belong to this category. 2. Inventions and creations that are not granted patent rights according to Article 5 of the Patent Law 1) Article 5, Paragraph 1 of the Patent Law stipulates that if the disclosure, use, or manufacture of an invention or creation violates laws, social ethics, or harms public interests, it cannot be granted a patent right. For example, devices, machines, or tools used for gambling; Drug paraphernalia; Falsifying national currency, bills, official documents, certificates, seals, cultural relics, and other equipment are all inventions and creations that violate the law and cannot be granted patent rights. For example, designs with violent murder or obscene images or photos, artificial genitalia or their substitutes for non-medical purposes, methods of mating between humans and animals, methods of altering genetic identity of the human reproductive system or humans that alter genetic identity of the reproductive system, cloned humans or methods of cloning humans, industrial or commercial applications of human embryos, methods of altering genetic identity of animals that may cause animal suffering without substantial medical benefits to humans or animals, etc. These inventions and creations violate social morality and cannot be granted patent rights. In addition, inventions or creations that cause disability or damage to property, such as anti-theft devices and methods that blind thieves, cannot be granted patent rights; If the implementation or use of an invention or creation seriously pollutes the environment, wastes energy or resources, disrupts ecological balance, or endangers public health, it cannot be granted patent rights; If the text or design of a patent application involves major political events or religious beliefs of the country, harms people's emotions or national emotions, or promotes feudal superstition, it cannot be granted patent rights. 2) According to Article 5 (2) of the Patent Law, no patent right shall be granted for inventions or creations that violate laws or administrative regulations by obtaining or utilizing genetic resources and rely on such genetic resources. Obtaining or utilizing genetic resources in violation of laws and administrative regulations refers to obtaining or utilizing genetic resources without obtaining prior approval from relevant administrative departments or permission from relevant rights holders in accordance with relevant laws and administrative regulations in China. For example, according to the provisions of the Livestock Law of the People's Republic of China and the Approval Measures for the Import and Export of Livestock and Poultry Genetic Resources and Foreign Cooperation Research and Utilization of the People's Republic of China, the export of livestock and poultry genetic resources listed in the Chinese Livestock and Poultry Genetic Resources Protection List to overseas should go through relevant approval procedures. If the completion of a certain invention or creation relies on the export of a certain livestock and poultry genetic resource listed in the Chinese Livestock and Poultry Genetic Resources Protection List from China to overseas, and the approval procedures have not been completed, the invention or creation cannot be granted a patent right. 3. Subject matter not granted patent rights under Article 25 of the Patent Law Article 25 of the Patent Law stipulates that no patent right shall be granted for the following items: （1） Scientific discoveries; For example, the discovery that silver halide has photosensitive properties under light cannot be granted a patent, but the photosensitive film produced based on this discovery and the manufacturing method of this photosensitive film can be granted a patent. For example, finding a previously unknown substance in its natural form from nature is merely a discovery and cannot be granted a patent. （2） The rules and methods of intellectual activities; For example, management methods and systems in areas such as organization, production, business implementation, and economics; Traffic rules, time schedule, competition rules; Methods of deduction, inference, and operations research; Book classification rules, dictionary arrangement methods, information retrieval methods, patent classification methods; The rules and methods for arranging calendars; Operating instructions for instruments and equipment; Grammar and Chinese character encoding methods for various languages; The language and calculation rules of computers; Quick calculation method or mnemonic; Mathematical theories and conversion methods; Psychological testing methods; Methods of teaching, lecturing, training, and animal taming; The rules and methods of various games and entertainment; Methods of statistics, accounting, and bookkeeping; Music scores, recipes, chess manuals; Methods of exercising the body; Methods for disease screening and population statistics; Information expression method; The computer program itself. （3） Diagnosis and treatment methods for diseases; 1) The diagnostic methods for diseases need to meet the following criteria: (1) targeting living human or animal bodies; (2) For the direct purpose of obtaining disease diagnosis results or health status. For example, blood pressure measurement method, pulse diagnosis method, foot diagnosis method, X-ray diagnosis method, ultrasound diagnosis method, gastrointestinal imaging diagnosis method, endoscopic diagnosis method, isotope tracing imaging diagnosis method, infrared non-destructive diagnosis method, disease risk assessment method, disease treatment effect prediction method, genetic screening diagnosis method. 2) The treatment method refers to the process of blocking, relieving, or eliminating the causes or lesions in order to restore or obtain health or reduce pain in living human or animal bodies. For example: surgical treatment methods, medication treatment methods, psychotherapy; Acupuncture and moxibustion, anesthesia, massage, scraping, Qigong, hypnosis, medicine bath, air bath, sunshine bath, forest bath and nursing methods aimed at treatment; The method of using various types of radiation such as electricity, magnetism, sound, light, and heat to stimulate or irradiate the human or animal body for therapeutic purposes; Treatment methods such as coating, freezing, and heat transfer are used for the purpose of treatment; Various immunization methods implemented to prevent diseases; The auxiliary methods used to implement surgical and/or drug treatment methods, such as the treatment of cells, tissues, or organs returning to the same subject, hemodialysis methods, anesthesia depth monitoring methods, medication oral administration methods, medication injection methods, medication external application methods, etc. （4） Animal and plant species; The animals referred to in the Patent Law do not include humans. The animals in question are organisms that cannot synthesize on their own and can only sustain their lives by consuming natural carbohydrates and proteins. The plants referred to in the Patent Law refer to organisms that can use photosynthesis to synthesize carbohydrates, proteins, and other inorganic substances such as water, carbon dioxide, and inorganic salts to sustain their survival, and usually do not move. Animal and plant varieties can be protected by laws and regulations other than patent law, for example, new plant varieties can be protected by the Regulations on the Protection of New Plant Varieties. （5） Substances obtained by nuclear transformation method; The method of nuclear transformation and the materials obtained by this method are of great interest to the country's economy, national defense, scientific research, and public life, and should not be monopolized by units or individuals. Therefore, they cannot be granted patent rights. （6） The design that primarily serves as an identifier for the pattern, color, or combination of both in printed materials. The main purpose of the appearance design is to enable the public to identify the source of the products or services involved.

If the applicant is dissatisfied with the rejection decision of the Patent Office after the patent application is rejected, they may submit a request for reexamination to the Patent Reexamination Board within 3 months from the date of receiving the rejection notice. If the applicant is dissatisfied with the reexamination decision made by the Patent Reexamination Board to uphold the rejection decision of the Patent Office, they may file a lawsuit with the people's court within 3 months from the date of receiving the notice.

The Patent Law of our country stipulates that the protection period of invention patent rights is 20 years, the protection period of utility model patent rights is 10 years, and the protection period of design patent rights is 15 years (from June 1, 2021), all calculated from the date of application.

The applicant is a natural person or entity that enjoys the right to apply for an invention or creation. After the patent application is authorized, the applicant becomes the patent owner and enjoys the patent right in accordance with the law. Inventor refers to a person who makes creative contributions to the substantive features of an invention or creation. In the process of completing an invention or creation, those who are only responsible for organizing work, providing convenience for the utilization of material and technical conditions, or engaging in other auxiliary work are not inventors. Inventors can only be natural persons, and organizations cannot act as inventors.

The patent law of our country divides the ownership of invention and creation rights into two categories: service inventions and creations and non service inventions and creations. There are two types of inventions and creations that belong to the category of duty inventions and creations. One is inventions and creations completed in the execution of tasks within the unit; The second is mainly the invention and creation completed by utilizing the material conditions of the unit. If there is a contract between the unit and the inventor or designer for inventions or creations completed using the material conditions of the unit, the agreement shall prevail. The above-mentioned tasks of our unit refer to: (1) In one's own job; (2) Fulfill tasks beyond the duties assigned by the unit; (3) Inventions or creations made within one year after resignation, retirement, or job transfer that are related to their original job responsibilities or assigned tasks in their original unit. The right to apply for a patent for non service inventions and creations belongs to the inventor or designer.

In China, the principle of first refusal is adopted for patent approval, which means that if two or more applicants submit the same patent application to the Patent Office, the patent right is granted to the individual or unit that first applies for the patent. Therefore, the applicant should promptly apply for a patent for their invention to prevent others from applying ahead of time. Due to the need for novelty in the technology being applied for, inventors should first apply for a patent and then publish a paper after obtaining a technological achievement, in order to avoid losing the opportunity to apply for a patent due to premature disclosure of the technology.

Patent is the abbreviation of patent right, which is the exclusive right granted by the state to the applicant for a certain period of time to enjoy, use, and dispose of their invention and creation achievements in accordance with the Patent Law. It is a form of property right and a powerful weapon for using legal protection to "race and conquer" existing markets, seize potential markets.

Guidelines for Patent Examination of the People's Republic of China

In China, patents include three types: invention patents, utility model patents, and design patents. Invention refers to a new technical solution proposed for a product, method, or its improvement. Invention patents have the highest technological content and require the most creative labor from inventors. New products, their manufacturing methods, and usage methods can all apply for invention patents. Utility model refers to a new technical solution proposed for the shape, structure, or combination of a product that is suitable for practical use. As long as there are some technological improvements, a utility model patent can be applied for. It should be noted that only when it involves product structure, shape, or their combination, can a utility model patent be applied for. Appearance design refers to a new design that is aesthetically pleasing and suitable for industrial applications, which combines the shape, pattern, or their combination, as well as the combination of color, shape, and pattern of a product. As long as the shape, pattern, or combination of the product, as well as the combination of color and shape, pattern, are aesthetically pleasing and suitable for industrial applications, a design patent can be applied for.