Patent rights for high examination politics
— analysis of law and life
Seaside high school, wang sinfeng
Today, where innovation drives development strategies further, patents are not only an important legal tool for protecting the results of science and technology creation, but also a key mechanism for stimulating innovation throughout society。
The meaning of patent rights
Patent rights are the exclusive rights of the right holder in respect of a particular invention, within a specified period of time, in accordance with the law. As an important component of intellectual property rights, the core value of patent rights lies in protecting the intellectual achievements of inventors and safeguarding their legitimate rights and interests, while at the same time stimulating scientific and technological innovation throughout society and promoting technological progress and industrial upgrading through explicit rights protection。
Patent rights are more sustainable and exclusive than administrative incentives such as bonuses, subsidies and tax incentives. Administrative incentives are mostly one-off support, while patent power is granted for a statutory period of time, allowing rights holders to obtain long-term economic returns through exclusive enforcement, licensing, etc., and fundamentally mobilizing inventors to sustain innovation。
Patents have a unique advantage over commercial secrecy protection by the state: they rely on the right-holder himself for confidentiality measures. Once disclosure is difficult, patent rights are subject to mandatory protection by law, and if patented by another person without authorization, the right-holder can be held accountable for violations under the law, and the right-holder is more secure and enforceable。
Conditions and procedures for obtaining patents
Patents are not automatically acquired, and a written patent application submitted by the right holder to the national intellectual property agency on its own initiative is not granted until the state intellectual property office has made a strict determination that the legal conditions have been met。
After a patent is granted, during the period of protection another person may not exercise his or her patent (including the manufacture, use, sale, promise of sale, import of a patented product, etc.) without the patentee's licence, which otherwise constitutes a patent infringement, entailing corresponding civil liability and, in serious cases, administrative or criminal liability。
The patented invention must satisfy three core conditions at the same time and must exclude statutory non-application:
First, there is legality, i. E. There is no prohibition, and no patent can be applied for for scientific discoveries (e. G. Discovery of new planets, new elements), disease diagnosis and treatment methods (e. G. Surgical programmes, use of diagnostic reagents), plant and animal varieties (e. G. New rice varieties themselves, but their breeding methods can be patented), rules and methods of intellectual activity (e. G. Mathematical formulas, game rules)
Second, it is novel, i. E. The invention was not made public at home or abroad prior to the date of the application, nor was there any similar application made by any unit or individual to the national intellectual property agency and recorded in the patent application documents published after the date of application
Third is practicality, i. E. The invention can be manufactured or used and can produce positive results and have practical application value。
Specific types of patents
Patents are divided into three categories: inventions, practical novelty and visual design, with significant differences in the subject of protection, technology requirements and application scenarios。
(i) innovations
Inventions are new technological options proposed for products, methods or improvements. They are the most technology-intensive and protective category in patents, covering both forms of product and method invention. Product inventions target specific tangible products, such as the new vaccine developed by our scientists, the new energy car batteries invented by an enterprise, improved energy-saving engines, etc.; methodological inventions target specific technological processes or operating methods, such as an efficient sewage treatment method, a synthesis method for a new drug, a mobile phone chip manufacturing process, etc. At the heart of the invention is the “new technology programme”, which requires notable substantive features and significant progress。
(ii) new and practical approaches
A practical new type, commonly known as “small invention”, refers to a new technological option that is suitable for practical use in the shape, construction or combination of a product. Compared to inventions, new technology requirements are relatively low, do not involve methods, are specific to the shape, structure (including internal construction) of the product and must be practical. For example, folded mobile phone racks (optimizing product shapes for ease of transport), thermostat caps (improving product configurations and increasing use experience), scalable data line interfaces (optimizing functionality through architecture improvements), etc., are useful new patents. It is important to note that products of uncertain shape (e. G. Liquids, gases) and simple material replacement cannot be patented for practical new types。
(iii) appearance design
Appearance design is a new design that is beautiful and suitable for industrial applications in terms of the shape, pattern or combination of the whole or part of the product, and colour and shape. Unlike inventions and practical innovations, the visual design does not focus on the functional technical functions of the product, but only on the appearance and decorative nature of the product, the core being “aesthetic and industrial mass production”. For example, the appearance design of a branded mobile phone, the shell design of a new laptop, the colour matching and plastic design of a cosmetic packaging box, etc., are patented for appearance design. It should be noted that purely artistic works (e. G. Paintings, sculptures) and handicrafts that cannot be produced in bulk cannot be patented for appearance design。
Duration of patent protection
The duration of protection of patent rights is statutory, different types of patents, different durations of protection, calculated from the date of application, but not from the date of the notice of invention, for a period of 20 years; 10 years of protection of functional new patent rights; and 15 years of protection of patent rights in visual design. Upon expiry of the protection, the invention will automatically enter the public domain, free of charge for anyone and no longer subject to patent protection. This provision guarantees the legitimate rights and interests of the right-holders and takes into account the public interest, promotes the broad application of technological achievements and achieves a balance between individual and social interests。
