Nowadays, at a critical juncture when our country advocates "mass innovation and mass entrepreneurship" and transforms the mode of economic growth, it is urgent and urgent for start-ups to protect their innovation achievements and plan their patent layout. important. Based on our years of experience in the industry, we give some suggestions on patent planning for start-up companies.
1. Establish the awareness of intellectual property protection of "early application" and "application before products and advertising"
The so-called "early application" is because major countries around the world have adopted the following policies: A system that determines who will own the patent based on the time of application. Therefore, the earlier you apply, the greater the possibility of protection. As developers and owners of innovative achievements, you should apply for patent protection in a timely manner to avoid others being the first to get the patent.
The so-called "application before product and advertising" means that the patent application date should be before the product is launched to the market and advertised to avoid losing novelty due to early disclosure; in reality, because it only focuses on the market, There are endless cases of neglecting protection, especially in the era of mobile Internet. It is easy and fast to promote products through WeChat, but unexpectedly, the creativity and technology are not protected because they are released to the public.
2. Choose a reasonable protection method based on the characteristics of the technical content
After the technological achievements are formed, choosing an appropriate protection method is related to the survival and long-term development of the enterprise; patents are not the protection of technology In addition, there are trade secrets, copyrights, layout designs, etc., and each has its own protection characteristics; in short, for technical solutions that are suitable for trade secret protection, trade secret protection is preferred; for those that are difficult to use commercial secret protection, For secret protection, choose patent protection; for things that can be protected by copyright at the same time, such as software products, designs, etc., while retaining copyright creation records or registering copyright, adopt dual protection.
3. Pay attention to the international protection of patents
Regionality is an important feature of intellectual property protection. In addition to copyright, rights such as patents and trademarks can only be obtained after the applications in different countries are approved. , to obtain protection in that country. For patent applications, in the initial stage, the market, funds and horizons are limited, and the scope is usually limited to the country. However, the hidden dangers are laid here. Once the product is sold abroad, it is discovered that when applying for a patent abroad, the priority has been missed. The lack of protection in the long term has hindered the development of foreign markets, and it is too late to regret it. The solution lies first in establishing this awareness. There is no such thing as a "world patent" that is protected all over the world. Secondly, it is necessary to estimate whether product sales will open up overseas markets. Thirdly, for inventions and utility models, it is necessary to apply for a patent. Before the expiration of 12 months in the future (before the expiration of 6 months for appearance), it is the final evaluation period. Make a decisive decision whether to apply for overseas patent protection, and adopt direct application or PCT application method according to the situation.
4. Pay attention to the quality of patent drafting
This seems to be a cliché, or something that people who are new to patents take for granted, but in reality, the quality of patent drafting is not good. , leading to the proliferation of patents that have no role in protecting technology. Writing a good patent is not an easy task. It is an "open secret" that the domestic patent agency industry lowers prices with each other, resulting in low quality of writing. Foreign patent agents only write a few patent applications a year to ensure the quality of the patent. The case is no laughing matter.
Limited to the different purposes of domestic patent applications, the author suggests that they should be treated differently. For those that need to protect their substantive technical content, especially core technologies and technical solutions for major products, emphasis should be placed on the quality of their writing and as much expansion as possible. For example, when making a high-level summary, it is best to write on the basis of a preliminary search. It is better to carefully consider each word of the claim, use ink as much as gold, and try to expand the scope of protection as much as possible. For those who only seek authorization but not protection, this should be ignored.
5. The value of a patent is not directly proportional to the technical difficulty. Don’t underestimate it. Small creations?
Technical personnel are prone to fall into the trap. The more complex the technology, the more worthy of protection and the greater the value. ? misunderstanding, but in reality this is not always the case. The reason is: the value of a patent is related to the popularity of the patented product and the value of the product, and has nothing to do with the technical complexity; in addition, from a legal perspective, as long as the minimum thresholds of novelty and creativity are met, , can meet the patentability standard and be treated equally in terms of legal protection.
As the saying goes: "The authorities are confused, the bystanders are clear", patent mining cannot rely solely on technical personnel, but should seek help from patent agents in order to collect and protect technical content that seems to be ordinary technology, but has wide application and good effects. , as everyone knows, these are the essence of patents, the "king of patents" that can really make a difference, avoid competitors, and realize the value of the right holder.
6. Public period for clever patent applications
Domestic start-ups are not familiar with the patent application mechanism, and their agents handle numerous cases every day, making it difficult for them to provide comprehensive explanations. As far as the "publication period" of an invention patent is concerned, there are only a few applicants who can truly understand the purpose of its establishment. Why is there an 18-month long disclosure period? The original intention is to give the applicant enough time to consider and consider whether to conduct disclosure and substantive examination, that is, whether it needs to be withdrawn due to further improvement of the technology, on the basis of claiming priority. whether it is no longer meaningful and valuable to apply for patent protection as the product and market changes, and the application should be abandoned and withdrawn voluntarily; whether it is more appropriate to adopt trade secret protection and withdraw it in a timely manner; whether it is not necessary to apply for substantive examination as long as it is disclosed, etc.
Therefore, we recommend that those who are eager to obtain authorization can apply for early disclosure and request substantive examination in advance in order to obtain authorization as soon as possible; for those whose technology is not yet fully mature, but are worried about other applicants applying first, It is not necessary to make public in advance, nor to request substantive review in advance, but to wait until the above situation becomes clear before making a decision.
7. Develop application patents around core patents
Start-ups start from technology, and their patent applications are often based on their core patents. It is important to protect core patented technologies, but Once the core patented technology is disclosed, if the application technology surrounding the core technology has not been clearly explored, it will leave a gap for competitors; what's more, even after the core patent owner extends the development of its peripheral patents, it will be dismissed due to negligence in applying for a patent. Others apply first, which in turn restricts the core patent holders from selling their technology application products.
Therefore, for start-up enterprises, firstly, they must pay attention to the research and development of application technology of core technologies; secondly, they must also pay attention to the patent protection of applied technology.
8. Pay attention to the use of patents and let patents play their role
It is not easy to obtain a patent. It is based on the hard work and wisdom of technical personnel and the investment of enterprises; after being authorized, Timely payment of annual fees is also required to maintain its legal validity. Therefore, if patents are not allowed to exert their value, patents will become a burden to the enterprise or even a negative asset.
There are many ways to make patents realize their value: First, the existence of patents is a reflection of the company’s R&D strength, which can promote the company’s product sales and obtain relevant honors and support; secondly, patents have delineated its role in the industry. As for the scope of rights in the technical field, other people may use it, obtain permission, or bypass it. These are all static uses. To give full play to the value of patents, it is more important to proactively seek ways to operate patents. Start-ups can promote this in the following aspects:
First, pay close attention to the product field, proactively crack down on infringers, and obtain compensation. amount or reach a licensing agreement;
The second is to block competitors from the source, pay attention to advertisements and exhibitions, and discover clues of infringement and actively safeguard rights;
The third is to combine one's own patents or those of others. The combination into a "patent pool" becomes an insurmountable obstacle for other peers, thereby charging licensing fees;
The fourth is to raise the patent to a standard, become a product standard essential patent, and obtain a larger and broader patent license. The fifth is to apply for various government subsidies in a timely manner, reduce the cost of patent application and promote the use of patents with the help of national power.
The above items are only the author’s experience in the industry and are inevitably overgeneralized. However, they are also focus issues that are often encountered by start-ups and cannot be avoided. If start-ups pay attention to them, I believe it will help them avoid mistakes. Take detours and avoid pitfalls.