1 Request Form
The provisions of Section 4.1, Chapter 1, Part One of this guide apply.
2 Description
During the preliminary examination, the description is examined to ensure it does not obviously conflict with Paragraph 3 of Article 26 of the Patent Law and Paragraphs 1 to 3 of Article 20 of the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Patent Law. Examination relating to Paragraph 3 of Article 26 of the Patent Law should refer to Section 2.1, Chapter 2, Part Two of this guide.
The examination of the description includes the following content:
(1) The description should clearly and completely explain the utility model so that a person skilled in the relevant field of technology can implement it; ‘a person skilled in the relevant field of technology can implement it’ means that such a person, based on the content recorded in the description, should be able to implement the technical solution of the utility model, solve its technical problem, and achieve the expected technical effect.
(2) The description should state the name of the utility model, which should be consistent with the name in the request form. The description should also include five parts: technical field, background technology, content of the utility model, explanation of the drawings, and specific embodiment, and a title should be written before each part.
(3) The content of the utility model in the description should describe the technical problem to be solved by the utility model, the technical solution adopted to solve the technical problem, state the beneficial effects of the utility model in contrast to the background technology, and the technical problem to be solved, the technical solution adopted, and the beneficial effects should be mutually adapted and not contradict or be unrelated to each other.
(4) The content of the utility model recorded in the description should be consistent with the expression of the corresponding technical solution defined in the claims.
(5) The description should state the titles of each drawing and briefly explain the content illustrated in the drawings. If there is more than one drawing, explanations should be provided for all drawings.
(6) The specific embodiment section of the description should at least provide one preferred embodiment for implementing the utility model, and it should be explained in conjunction with the drawings.
(7) The specification should use standardized terminology and clear sentences, accurately expressing the technical solution of the utility model with technical terms. It should not use referential phrases such as “as described in the claims…” nor should it employ commercial promotional language or terms that demean others or their products.
(8) The textual part of the specification may include chemical formulas, mathematical formulas, or tables, but should not contain illustrations, including flowcharts, block diagrams, curve graphs, phase diagrams, etc. These can only be used as figures in the specification.
(9) If the textual part of the specification includes descriptions of figures but the specification lacks the corresponding figures, the applicant should be notified to remove the figure descriptions from the text or to submit the corresponding figures within a specified period. If the applicant submits the figures, the date of submission or mailing the figures to the Patent Office will be considered the application date, and the examiner should issue a notification to reconfirm the application date. If the applicant removes the corresponding figure descriptions, the original application date is retained.
(10) The pages of the specification should be numbered sequentially using Arabic numerals.
3 Specification Figures
Figures are an integral part of the specification. The purpose of figures is to supplement the textual description of the specification with graphical representations, enabling a direct and vivid understanding of each technical feature and the overall technical solution of the utility model. Therefore, the figures in the specification should clearly reflect the content of the utility model.
The examination of specification figures is conducted in accordance with Article 20, Paragraph 5, and Article 21 of the Implementing Regulations of the Patent Law. The examination of the specification figures includes the following:
(1) Figures should not use engineering blueprints or photographs.
(2) Figures should be drawn using drafting tools, including computers, with uniform and clear lines, and without alterations; irrelevant borders or frames should not be present around the figures. Figures are generally drawn using black ink. Colored figures may be submitted when necessary to clearly describe the relevant technical content of the patent application.
(3) Figures should be sequentially numbered using Arabic numerals, labeled as Figure 1, Figure 2, etc., and placed directly below the corresponding figure.
(4) Figures should ideally be drawn vertically on the paper and distinctly separated from each other. When the horizontal dimensions of a part are significantly larger than the vertical dimensions and must be arranged horizontally, the top of the figure should be placed on the left side of the paper. If a page contains more than two figures, and one is already arranged horizontally, the other figures on that page should also be arranged horizontally.
(5) The size and clarity of the figures should ensure that each detail is still discernible when the figure is reduced to two-thirds of its original size, to meet the requirements of copying and scanning.
(6) In a patent application with multiple figures, the same figure markings should be consistently used in figures that represent the same embodiment to denote the same component (the same technical feature or the same object). The same figure markings used in the specification and figures should indicate the same component. Figure markings not mentioned in the textual part of the specification should not appear in the figures, and figure markings not appearing in the figures should not be mentioned in the textual part.
(7) Apart from necessary words, no other annotations should be included in the figures; words should be in Chinese, with the original language noted in brackets afterwards if necessary.
(8) Structural block diagrams, logic block diagrams, and process flowcharts should contain necessary text and symbols within their frames.
(9) The same scale should be used throughout a single figure. To clearly show a particular component, an additional enlarged partial view may be added.
(10) The figures in the specification should include those depicting the shape, structure, or combination of the product for which protection is sought. They should not solely depict the existing technology, nor should they only illustrate the effects or performance of the product, such as temperature change curve diagrams.
(11) The pages of the specification figures should be numbered sequentially using Arabic numerals.
4 Claims
During the preliminary examination, the claims are reviewed for clear non-compliance with Article 26, Paragraph 4 of the Patent Law and Articles 22 to 25 of the Implementing Regulations of the Patent Law. For examination concerning Article 26, Paragraph 4 of the Patent Law, refer to Section 3.2, Chapter 2, Part Two of this guide.
The examination of the claims includes the following aspects:
(1) The claims must be based on the specification, clearly and concisely defining the scope of the requested patent protection.
(2) The claims must state the technical features of the utility model.
(3) Independent claims should reflect the overall technical solution of the utility model. Except when necessary to express in another manner, independent claims should include a preamble and a characterizing part. The preamble should state the title of the subject matter of the utility model being protected and the necessary technical features shared by the utility model subject and the closest prior art. The characterizing part, using phrases like “characterized in that…” or similar expressions, should state the technical features that distinguish the utility model from the closest prior art.
(4) Dependent claims should further limit the referenced claims with additional technical features. Their drafting should include a referencing part and a limiting part. The referencing part should state the number and the subject title consistent with the independent claim referenced, while the limiting part should state the additional technical features of the utility model.
(5) A utility model should have only one independent claim, which should be written before the dependent claims of the same utility model.
(6) Content mentioned in the claims but not recorded in the specification should be supplemented in the specification.
(7) The claims should not include features that do not produce a technical effect.
(8) Claims generally should not contain technical features expressed graphically.
(9) Claims should avoid using functional or effect features to define the utility model as much as possible. The characterizing part should not merely describe the functions of the utility model. Only when a technical feature cannot be defined by structural features, or when it is more appropriate to define by functional or effect features, and such function or effect is adequately disclosed in the specification, is it permissible to use functional or effect features to define the utility model.
(10) Claims should not use technically vague or ambiguous terms.
(11) Claims should not include phrases unrelated to the content of the technical solution, such as “requesting protection of the production and sales rights of this patent”, nor should they use commercial promotional language or terms that demean others or their products.
Additionally, the claims must also meet the following formal requirements:
(1) Each claim is allowed to use a period only at the end of the claim. A claim can be expressed in a single paragraph, or it can be divided into lines or sub-paragraphs within a paragraph, using only semicolons or commas for division. If necessary, sequential numbers may be provided before the division into lines or sub-paragraphs.
(2) The claims must not have a title.
(3) If there are multiple claims in the claims document, they should be sequentially numbered using Arabic numerals.
(4) Claims may include chemical formulas or mathematical expressions, but must not contain illustrations and usually should not have tables. Phrases like “as described in the specification…” or “as shown in figure…” should not be used, except when absolutely necessary.
(5) Technical features in the claims can refer to corresponding markings in the specification figures to aid in understanding the technical solution described in the claims. However, these markings should be enclosed in parentheses and placed after the corresponding technical feature. The figure markings used in the claims must be consistent with those in the specification figures.
(6) Dependent claims can only refer to preceding claims. Multiple dependent claims that refer to two or more preceding claims can only do so in an alternative manner. They must not serve as a basis for being referenced by another multiple dependent claim, meaning that a subsequent multiple dependent claim must not refer to a preceding multiple dependent claim.
(7) The pages of the claims document should be sequentially numbered using Arabic numerals.
5 Abstract of the Specification
In accordance with Article 26 of the Implementing Regulations of the Patent Law, the abstract of the specification is examined. The examination of the abstract includes the following content:
(1) The abstract should state the name of the utility model and its technical field, clearly reflect the technical problem to be solved, the key points of the technical solution to solve this problem, and its main uses. It should particularly mention the technical features that show improvements in shape and structure relative to the background technology. The abstract should not be written as an advertisement or purely functional product introduction.
(2) The textual part of the abstract should not use a title.
(3) The abstract may include chemical or mathematical formulas.
(4) The text of the abstract (including punctuation) should not exceed 300 characters.
(5) The abstract of the specification should include an abstract figure. The applicant should designate one figure from the figures in the specification that reflects the technical solution as the abstract figure and state the figure number in the request.
6 Supplementing Application Documents by Citing Prior Applications
The provisions of Section 4.7, Chapter 1, Part One of this guide apply here.
For supplementing missing figures in the specification by citing prior application documents, the provisions of Section 4.7.1, Chapter 1, Part One apply; for supplementing incorrectly submitted figures in the specification or missing or incorrectly submitted parts of figures, the provisions of Section 4.7.2, Chapter 1, Part One apply.
7 Format Examination of Application Documents for Publication
The provisions of Section 4.6, Chapter 1, Part One of this guide apply here.
绿洲慧写 | AI 辅助专利撰写专家 