企业专利申请：申请时机、申请途径与专利类型选择

企业申请专利，首先应当把握专利申请的时间节点。由于专利遵循”先申请先得”的原则，Generally speaking，Patent application time should be sooner rather than later，尽快取得专利权（甚至申请号）就能尽快赢得商机。企业应在产品开发初期着手专利工作，Completed in trial production、投放市场之前提交申请文件为最佳时机。

如果产品投放市场后还需进一步改良，即推出第二代、第三代等系列产品，可以在原申请的基础上追加新的专利，Make a new rights request。此时仍可享有”先申请先得”的优势，即在同类专利申请中，已申请过相关专利的企业具有优先权。

Some companies are relatively low-key when it comes to patent applications.，担心核心技术随专利公布而被同行业掌握和剽窃，不利于提高自身产品的市场占有率。这实际上走入了知识产权保护的误区。市场竞争机制是往”fair、just、public”的方向发展的，专利公布并非给假冒伪劣者以便利，而是更有效地打击侵权等不公平竞争者。

企业专利申请的途径

确定申请时机后，企业需要选择专利申请的途径，主要有以下三种方式：

1. 由企业自行申请，That is, patent documents are written by internal personnel of the company，Then submit it directly to the local or State Intellectual Property Office Patent Office for acceptance in written or electronic form.。
2. 委托知识产权代理机构办理，Patent documents are written by a patent attorney、Submit etc.。
3. 由企业与知识产权代理机构合作完成，agency consultation、The role of service，专利文件则在代理机构的指导下，Written and modified by professional and technical personnel within the company。

为保证专利申请工作顺利进行，第一种方式要求负责专利工作的企业内部人员具备专利申请经验，Steps to apply for a patent、formalities、Familiar with the format of relevant patent documents, etc.，避免走弯路、人为加长申请时间。第二种方式突出了”因为专业，所以放心”的原则。

在寻找专利代理人时，为使专利申请更加顺利，Also pay attention to the agency direction of the agent。目前专利代理人一般分为机械、Chemical industry、Three directions of electrons，代理人也是”Specialize in the field”，There are also specialties in the profession。第三种方式突出了”强强合作”的团队精神，是企业与代理机构相辅相成的理想选择，It will have the effect of getting twice the result with half the effort。

专利申请的费用构成与减免政策

When companies choose ways to apply for patents，In addition to considering the above issues，You should also consider your own economic strength，因为专利申请需交纳相关费用。专利申请所需交纳的相关费用包括两部分：First, the application fee submitted to the Patent Office of the State Intellectual Property Office、annual fee、Invention patent application examination fees, etc.；The second is the patent agency submitted to the intellectual property agency、Search、consult、服务等费用。

In order to encourage patent applications, the national and local governments，Different incentive policies have been introduced accordingly.。对于确有困难的企业，When the relevant certification procedures are complete，第一部分费用能得到一大部分甚至全部的减免。至于第二部分费用，目前市场上的代理费用参差不齐，There are no relevant industry specifications yet，这部分费用无法减免，应提前计划在企业的财务预算内。

专利类型的确定

企业需要确定申请专利的类型。Patent types are divided into invention patents、Utility model patent、Three types of design patents。invention refers to product、Methods or new technical solutions proposed by their improvements。Utility model refers to the shape of the product、Construct or combine new technical solutions suitable for practical use。

Appearance design refers to the shape of the product、Patterns or combinations of colors and shapes、The combination of patterns creates new designs that are both aesthetically pleasing and suitable for industrial applications.。一般人总认为发明比实用新型的科技含量高，其实发明和实用新型在内容要求上并无本质区别，只不过在审批手续和专利保护年限上不同。

发明专利与实用新型专利的审批差异

在专利申请过程中，Invention patents require substantive examination，The approval time is generally extended to 2 to 3 years，Utility model patents do not require actual examination，审批时间则减少到8至10个月。After patent authorization，The right protection period of invention patent is 20 years，The utility model patent period is 10 years。therefore，In the actual operation of patents，Enterprises can determine the application type based on the specific nature of the product.。

若产品新的科技含量不高（相对已公布的专利），And eager to occupy the market，并且预计只能在市场中短期存在（或淘汰或更新），Then use utility model as the application type。on the contrary，产品科技含量较高（相对已公布的专利），Want to occupy the market for a long time，or it is easy to introduce new ones based on this，那么该专利就应作为发明来申请。

For design patents，Generally suitable for shape protection of fashion products。

专利申请的表格填写与手续办理

企业需要填写表格，Complete relevant procedures and certificates。If a company uses an agency in patent application，那么在签署”专利申请委托代理合同”（一般由代理机构拟定）后，代理机构有义务提醒企业如何操作，按他们的提示逐步照做即可。

This includes the compilation of relevant technical documents and information about the product.，专利代理委托书（国家知识产权局专利局所提供）的填写和盖章，Approval confirmation of application documents written by patent attorney，到主管部门开单位经济效益证明和提交费用减缓请求书（如果想申请专利费用减免）等。

If the company wants to apply by itself，那么先到国家知识产权局网站下载（或到地方专利部门领取，或以信函方式向专利局初审及流程管理部综合处申请邮寄）所需表格及填表说明，These include：请求书（分发明专利请求书、Utility Model Patent Request Form、外观设计专利请求书三种），权利要求书（发明和实用新型类通用），说明书（发明和实用新型类通用），说明书附图（发明和实用新型类通用），说明书摘要（发明和实用新型类通用），摘要附图（发明和实用新型类通用）。

If it is an invention，还需下载”实质审查请求书”以备在申请后期提交。外观设计专利除了”Design Patent Request Form”outside，另需下载”外观设计图片或照片”、”外观设计简要说明”That’s it。For the above three patents，如果企业要想减免专利费用，还需下载”费用减缓请求书”。These are the documents required to apply for a patent.。

If under special circumstances，专利需要强制许可或要求提前公开等，You need to download the relevant forms。then，Enterprises need to search relevant patent documents，Carefully analyze and compare relevant patents，做到”知己知彼”，从而突出自己专利的”Novelty”，使自己的专利权限”有的放矢”，There will be no infringement trouble。

专利文件的填写要点

以上都是准备工作，接下来就要按着填表说明，Fill out the form carefully。

The patent request is the basis for determining the type of patent to be applied for.，Inventions should be selected as needed、One of utility models or designs。The instruction manual is a clear explanation of how to apply for a patent.、complete description，其目标以”所属技术领域的技术人员能够实现”Subject to。权利要求书是以说明书为依据，Describe the technical features to be patented，clear、Briefly state the scope of patent protection requested。

Instructions generally cannot contain illustrations, etc.，Therefore, the accompanying drawings in the manual are a powerful supplement to the manual.。Drawings should be drawn using drawing tools and black ink，Which guideline applies numeric codes，Try to avoid the appearance of text。in addition，To apply for a patent, you must submit an abstract，The content is a summary of what is disclosed in the application.，Limit to 300 words。If there are drawings, an abstract of the description and accompanying drawings should also be submitted.，一般为说明书附图中的一幅。

When applying for a design patent, pictures or photos of the design must be submitted，A brief description should be provided if necessary。这一过程是专利申请中的关键，Need to think again and again，Think carefully。

申请文件的提交

申请文件可到专利局或专利局设在各地的代办处办理当面递交，或以邮寄方式寄交国家知识产权局专利局。

如果想申请专利费用减免，那么还要到上级主管部门（如地方知识产权局等）开出”单位经济效益证明”和填写”费用减缓请求书”，And be submitted together with the patent application documents。

Through the above introduction，企业申请产品专利并非想象中那么麻烦。尽快行动，保护自己企业的知识产权。