1. utility patent: According to the American patent law, all inventions or discoveries of novel and practical methods, machines, products and compositions of matter, or new uses of known substances, or further improvements of existing technologies, belong to the objects to be protected by the American patent law, and the protection period is 2 years from the date of application.
2. design patent: Design patent protects new, original and decorative designs for products. The term of protection is fourteen years from the date of registration. ?
3. plant patent: The protection of plant patent is a new and unique new plant variety copied by asexual or sexual reproduction. The term of protection is 2 years from the date of application. 2. flow chart of patent application
? (1) means of filing
the applicant can file a U.S. patent application through the Paris convention, the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and directly to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. For the required documents and specific requirements of the application, please refer to the US Application Practice Guide
(2) Brief introduction of the patent application process
The application is submitted by the inventor, enterprise or its authorized person → accepted by the USPTO acceptance department. The application number is given → the application department conducts formal review and determines the application date → documents are processed and data are collected at the same time → classification → the application is assigned to the review department for review according to the classification number: formal review and retrieval → substantive review → the applicant's reply → re-examination → making a final decision → those who are dissatisfied with the decision may appeal to the Patent Appeal and Conflict of Rights Committee. ? For details of each process, please refer to the U.S. Application Practice Guidelines III. Brief introduction of some application processes (for details of each application process, please refer to the U.S. Application Practice Guidelines)
? 1. Temporary application
can be called domestic priority. Temporary application cannot be directly authorized, but it can be changed into a formal application within 12 months from the date of application, or the priority of the temporary application can be claimed when applying for a formal application within 12 months.
2. Information Disclosure Statement (IDS)
According to relevant laws and practices, when processing patent applications, the US Patent and Trademark Office requires patent applicants to undertake the obligation to inform all prior technologies involved in the patent.
3. continuation application
based on the original application, an application filed to modify the scope of patent protection without modifying the essence of the invention is a continuation application.
4. continuation-in-part application
based on the original application, an application that partially modifies the essence of the invention is called a partial continuation application.
5. Application for Patent Re-issuance in the United States
The core of the re-issuance application is to allow the patentee to restart the examination of the application within two years from the date of formal patent authorization to obtain the right to adjust the protection scope relative to the original authorized protection scope.
6. Ways to speed up the examination of American patent applications
It is a long process to apply for a patent in the United States. In recent years, in order to speed up the examination, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has launched a series of procedures to speed up the examination, so as to relieve the pressure of the backlog of cases, including speeding up the examination, giving priority to the examination, and patent prosecution highway. ? Iv. authorization conditions
according to the relevant provisions of the patent law of the United States, the patent application cannot be granted a patent right under any of the following circumstances:
1. repeated authorization
according to the relevant provisions of article 11 of the patent law of the United States and section 84 of the patent examination procedure manual of the United States, only one patent right can be granted for the same invention-creation.
2. Objects that are not protected by the patent law
Objects that cannot be granted patent rights include but are not limited to human organs, natural laws, physical phenomena, abstract concepts, mathematical methods, and substances that exist in the natural state in nature. In China, some objects that cannot be patented, such as computer software, business methods, diagnosis and treatment methods of animals and diseases, are all objects that can be protected by patent law in the United States.
3. The relevant provisions of Article 112 of the United States Patent Law are not met
(1) The description should give a clear and complete description of the invention and creation, subject to the technical personnel in the technical field, and the best embodiment of the invention and creation needs to be publicly implemented in the description;
(2) The description shall include one or more subjects and their scope that are required to be protected by the patent application;
(3) For the claim defined by functional technical features, the specific structure, material or equivalent description for realizing the function shall be disclosed in detail in the specification.
4. Failing to meet the relevant requirements of novelty
In any of the following circumstances, the patent right will not be obtained:
? (1) before the filing date, the invention-creation right has been patented, or described in publications, or publicly used, sold or otherwise known to the public; Or
? (2) The invention-creation is described in a patent granted under Article 151, or in a patent application published or deemed to be published under Article 122(b), and in this case, the patent or patent application is signed by other inventors and has been effectively filed before the filing date of the invention-creation.
5. Not meeting the relevant requirements of creativity
Although an invention meets the relevant requirements of novelty, the difference between the content of the patent application and its existing technology is so small that it is obvious to the technicians in the field when the invention is completed, it cannot be patented.
6. obligation of information disclosure
according to section 37CFR 1.56 of the detailed rules for the implementation of the U.S. patent law, everyone who participates in a patent application has the obligation to disclose information related to patentability to the U.S. patent and trademark office, and this obligation exists as long as there are claims under review. If there is cheating on the patent office or attempts to do so, or if there is malicious intention or intentional violation of the obligation of information disclosure, the patent will not be granted. ? V. Overview of Patent Examination in the United States
The United States Patent and Trademark Office mainly undertakes the routine work of patent examination and disclosure. The United States Patent and Trademark Office receives patent applications from various countries every year, and the number of applications is increasing year by year.
? 1. data of application volume and waiting period
? 2. Review and Invalidation Procedure
In the United States, there are two ways for a third party to invalidate a patent. One is to directly file an application for patent invalidation with the accepting court or the Trade Commission of the US Congress in patent infringement litigation; The second is to file a patent invalidation request with the Patent Trial Appeals Board of the US Patent and Trademark Office. The following procedure can be used to declare a patent invalid in whole or in part.
? (1) unilateral review procedure
? A third party may, from the date of patent authorization, request invalidation on the grounds that the patent has been published, and the invalidation reasons involved are limited to novelty and creativity.
? (2) post grant review)
A third party can only submit the procedure within nine months after the patent is granted. The invalid reason involved can be any invalid reason stipulated in the patent law of the United States. This procedure is only applicable to patents with filing date (including priority) after March 16th, 213.
? (3) mutual parts review
A third party can only submit this procedure nine months after the patent is granted, and can only apply to start this procedure after the patent is granted and the review procedure is terminated. This procedure applies to all patents granted before or after the effective date of the American Invention Act (AIA). The review procedure of both parties can only take public publications as evidence. ? VI. Trademarks
The basis of American trademark application lies in use, which can be divided into actual use and intentional use. The latter needs to provide evidence of use within 6 months after passing the approval notice. The term of trademark rights is 1 years. ?
trademark application procedures mainly include application, examination and objection procedures. In the objection procedure, there are links such as evidence search and inquiry. ? VII. Copyright
In the United States, although copyright registration is not a prerequisite for the obligee to obtain rights, it is a prerequisite for the obligee to file a lawsuit.