Utility model is one of the three types of patents in China. China’s patent system provides three types of patent rights: invention, utility model and design. Utility models are used extensively by Chinese applicants. Utility model patents, which have a 10-year term, are not substantively examined and are granted after a formal examination, which generally takes about one year to one and a half years or less.
Features of Utility Model Application
A utility model application is directed to innovations in limited areas - specifically, technical solutions related to the shape and/or structure of a product. Methods, uses and chemical compositions or compounds do not constitute statutory subject matters for utility model applications.
A utility model application is subject to only a preliminary examination substantially on formalities. This means that no prior art search and no assessment of novelty or inventive step for the claimed solution are conducted during the examination by the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO).
The standard of inventive step for a utility model patent is lower than that for an invention patent. For a utility model, the examiner will normally focus on the technical field to which the utility model belongs, unless there is a clear technical teaching.
.jpg "China Utility Model Application")
Requirement on Utility Model Patent Application
The requirements for filing are generally the same as those for filing a regular Chinese invention patent application, but the claims may include only one independent claim. Where an applicant wishes to file both an invention patent application and a utility model patent application for the same invention, these must be filed on the same day with each accompanied by a notification identifying the filing of the other application.
Items Cannot Be Registered as Utility Model
Methods and processes, products without a definite shape, products that have been changed by substitution of material or differences in manufacturing technique but have retained the same known form and construction, products characterized only by a planar pattern design without resolving a technical problem, or the molecular structure and components of a substance.
Other items that are not patentable: computer programs, inventions contrary to the laws of the State, inventions contrary to social morality, inventions being detrimental to public interest, scientific discoveries, rules and methods for mental activities, methods for the diagnosis or treatment of diseases, animal and plant varieties, and substances obtained by means of nuclear transformation.
Contact Us
If you have further inquires, please do not hesitate to contact Tannet at anytime, anywhere by simply visiting Tannet’s website english.tannet-group.com, or calling Hong Kong hotline at 852-27826888 or China hotline at 86-755-82143422, or emailing to 2355735242@qq.com. You are also welcome to visit our office situated in 16/F, Taiyangdao Bldg 2020, Dongmen Rd South, Luohu, Shenzhen, China.
Previous：How to Register a Copyright in China
Next：Copyright Protection in China