At this stage, patent protection is divided into two levels, on the one hand, to avoid the product has been patented and reduce duplication of work; On the other hand, you need to apply for patent protection for your creativity or design in time.
Therefore, we should first conduct extensive product and creative design search and related information inquiry. On the one hand, we can see whether there are similar products or design ideas. On the other hand, it can also open up ideas and realize the function of creative inspiration. If you have similar ideas, you must get in touch with the patentee or inventor, share the results and develop each other. Because many patented products are in the experimental stage, their mass production often needs suitable conditions, and mutual cooperation and development is an important step for patented products to move towards marketization. Of course, in this process, even enterprises or individuals should not forget to conclude corresponding contracts and stipulate their rights and obligations. For core technologies, necessary security measures should be taken to avoid information leakage. At this stage, we need to pay attention to protecting our secrets. In addition to applying for patent protection in time, in the process of research and development, we also need to make a confidentiality agreement from the following aspects:
(1) Establish a leading organization for confidentiality within the enterprise, and formulate and improve confidentiality rules and regulations. Many enterprises don't have a confidentiality mechanism to deal with it, and they lack relevant protection awareness for some core secrets or product ideas. Once it is leaked, it will not be worth the loss.
(2) When an enterprise signs a labor contract with its employees, it should sign a confidentiality agreement and a non-competition agreement at the same time, so as to clarify the scope, means and liability for breach of contract of confidentiality, so as to prevent leakage caused by the flow of personnel and make the enterprise suffer heavy losses. Especially in the aspect of introducing talents or retaining talents, it is necessary to agree on relevant terms to avoid the impact on the use of the other party's intellectual property rights and avoid losses caused by the information disclosure of their own enterprises.
2, the patent application stage:
When applying for patent protection, it is necessary to adopt an appropriate entrustment method according to the situation of its own products, and sign the necessary confidentiality agreement with the entrusting institution to keep the information confidential. In this regard, we need to find a trustworthy and confidential entrusting institution. Because of the privacy of patented technology, we should not only avoid the leakage caused by our own employees, but also consider the information leakage. Although many agencies can set an example, the instability of agents and the division of business also bring the risk of data leakage. Of course, some enterprises think that information should not be made public and protect themselves with some key points, which is also a taboo in patent application, because if the relevant technology cannot be made public, it cannot be protected. Therefore, it is necessary to strike a balance between the two.
In addition, the definition of service invention and non-service invention needs to be clear; Especially in cooperative development and entrusted development, both parties should agree in advance on the ownership of patent application right and patent right. In the case of a patent completed by an individual using company resources, the patent belongs to the company, that is, a service invention. Of course, patents that individuals do in their spare time have nothing to do with their jobs are another matter. In addition, even those who have made substantial and creative contributions to service inventions have the right to sign. In particular, we should consider the inventor's creative work and give corresponding encouragement or reward. These are all issues that need to be considered in the patent application stage.
In addition, because the patent application has the function of regional protection. Therefore, in the process of patent protection, it is necessary to choose the scope of protection according to the actual situation. Anyone who is used, produced or sold in China may apply for protection in China. Once it crosses the international border, it needs to be protected by PCT or other means, similar to the regional protection of trademarks.
3, the patent application stage:
After the patent is granted, the patented product shall be protected from the date of application. We should choose the authorized patent according to our own needs. Special attention should be paid to maintaining the effectiveness of patent rights. For important patents, we need to pay the annual fee in time and pay attention to other invalid or similar patents in time. If necessary, we can invalidate other people's similar patents to establish the authority of our own patents, and take strong measures when others invalidate their own patents.
To produce or process patented products, a legal and effective contract with clear rights and obligations must be signed. Avoid the disclosure of patent core technology, adopt necessary contractual agreements for the subsequent patented technological achievements, and apply for protection in time to avoid the restrictions of suppliers or manufacturers on patents.
4, patent infringement relief stage:
In the process of patent infringement or remedy, patent infringement is mainly considered. Once the sale or production of similar patented products occurs, it must be stopped in an appropriate way. Among them, there should be actual infringement of patent infringement, and at the same time, evidence should be retained in an appropriate way as a weight for future negotiations or litigation. There are generally three ways to deal with patent infringement:
(1) Both parties reached a settlement.
(2) apply to the patent administration organ for investigation and handling.
(3) to the people's court. In this process, it is very important to protect the evidence. In addition, once the patent infringing products are found to be sold on relevant platforms, they can be removed from the platform through feedback and get exclusive publicity. The infringed enterprises or individuals who profit from patent infringement can be dealt with in various ways according to the actual situation.
With the increasing awareness of patent protection and the increasing attention paid by the state to intellectual property protection, it is believed that more and more patent infringement cases will be presented to the public, especially the new patent infringement complaints will be directly placed under the national policy of the Supreme People's Court, which will tell enterprises and individuals that the protection of intellectual property rights will become more and more important in the near future, and once infringed, they will pay a heavy price. If there are related innovative products or designs, please make layout and protection in advance.