What is the process of applying for an invention-based patent in Beijing? How much does it cost?

According to the Patent Law, the approval process of an invention patent application consists of five stages: acceptance, preliminary examination, publication, substantive examination and authorization. A utility model or design patent application is not subject to early publication and substantive examination in the approval process, but only three stages: acceptance, preliminary examination and authorization.

After receiving an application for a patent for invention, the Patent Office will publish it after eighteen months from the date of application if it is deemed to be in compliance with the requirements of the Patent Law after preliminary examination. The Patent Office may also publish the application at an early date at the request of the applicant. Therefore, the preliminary examination of the patent application for invention is a necessary procedure after accepting the patent application for invention and before publishing the application.

Processing of Patent Application for Invention

(1) If an application for a patent for invention is filed, the application documents shall include: a request for a patent for invention, an abstract of the specification (which shall be accompanied by drawings if necessary), a statement of claims, and a specification (which shall be accompanied by drawings if necessary).

Invention patent applications involving amino acid or nucleotide sequences, the specification shall include the sequence list, submit the sequence list as a separate part of the specification, and prepare a separate page number, and also submit a CD-ROM or floppy disk with the sequence list in accordance with the provisions of the Patent Office of the State Intellectual Property Office (hereinafter referred to as the Patent Office).

Where an application for patent is made for an invention or creation relying on genetic resources, the applicant shall state the source of the genetic resources in the application and fill in the registration form for disclosure of the source of the genetic resources, stating the direct source and the original source of the genetic resources. If the applicant is unable to state the original source, he shall state the reasons.

(2) If an application for a utility model patent is filed, the application documents shall include: utility model patent application, abstract of the specification and the drawings accompanying the abstract, claims, specification, and drawings accompanying the specification.

Example 1: Example of Utility Model Patent Application

(3) If a design patent is applied for, the application document shall include: a design patent application, pictures or photographs (color pictures or photographs shall be submitted if protection of color is required) and a brief description of the design.

Example 1: Example of writing a design application

Example 2: Example of writing a similar design application

Examination Procedures

1 Preliminary Examination Qualified

After the preliminary examination, for the patent application which complies with the relevant provisions of the Patent Law and its Implementing Rules, and which has no obvious substantive defects, including those which meet the requirements of the preliminary examination through corrections. The patent application shall be deemed to have passed the preliminary examination after preliminary examination. The examiner

shall issue a notice of passing the preliminary examination, specifying the application text on which the publication is based, and then enter the publication procedure.

2 Preliminary Examination of Rectification of Application Documents In the preliminary examination, the examiner shall conduct a comprehensive examination of the patent application where there are defects in the application documents that can be overcome by rectification, and issue a notice of rectification. The notice of correction shall specify the defects in the patent application, explain the reasons, and specify the response period. After the applicant correction, the application documents are still defective, the examiner shall again issue a notice of correction.