A ¡°utility model¡± refers to a new technological solution regarding the product's shape, structure or their combination, according to the China Patent Law.
The State Intellectual Property Office (¡°SIPO¡±) only conducts preliminary examinations over utility model patent applications. This greatly shortens the time taken for the examination procedure to approximately 9 ¨C 11 months before a patent is granted. However, such a efficiency bears the vulnerability when there is a dispute rising.
The duration of a utility model patent is 10 years, counted from the application date.
Towards a new technology, a decision often needs to be made whether to file for a utility model patent or an invention patent application, based on various tradeoff factors.
|
