Invention patent: refers to a new technical scheme proposed for a product, method or its improvement. Invention patents do not seek technical achievements that can be directly applied to industrial production through practice, but they can be solutions to technical problems or an idea.

Patent for utility model: refers to a new technical scheme suitable for practical use for the shape, structure or combination of products. "Like the invention, the utility model protects a technical solution. However, the protection scope of utility model patent is narrow, which only protects new products with a certain shape or structure, and does not protect methods and substances without a fixed shape. The technical scheme of the utility model pays more attention to practicality, and its technical level is lower than that of the invention. Most countries' utility model patents protect relatively simple and improved technological inventions, which can be called "small inventions".

Design patent: refers to a new design based on the shape, pattern or combination of products and the combination of colors, shapes and patterns, which is aesthetic and suitable for industrial application. Appearance design focuses on the designer's artistic and aesthetic creation of the appearance of a product, but this artistic creation is not a simple handicraft, it must be practical for industrial application.