1. According to the situation you described, you only need to apply for copyright protection of cartoon characters and trademark protection of cartoon character names, but there is no actual need for patent application;

Because there are three types of patent applications, namely invention patents, utility model patents and design patents, and inventions and utility models both specifically refer to inventions and improvements in technologies, methods, etc. Your situation does not fall into these two categories. A design patent refers to a new appearance design for a general product. Therefore, your cartoon character does not fall into this category. Therefore, you do not need to apply for patent rights, but for copyright and trademark rights. ;

2. Applying for copyright is to protect your cartoon character image. That is, if someone uses a cartoon character that is exactly the same as yours without authorization in the future, it will be an infringement of your copyright. You can pass To combat copyright;

Applying for a trademark is to combat the unauthorized use of character names on products, or to protect your rights when you make partial changes to your cartoon characters;

Just like the most popular Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf, they not only applied for copyright, but also applied for trademarks on related products, so as to avoid all unscrupulous people from rushing to register the cartoon image;

3. To apply for copyright, you need to go to the China Copyright Office to go through relevant procedures, and to apply for a trademark, you have to go to the China Trademark Office;