Common problems

According to Article 22 of the 《Patent Law》, granted inventions and utility models should include novelty, creativity, and industrial applicability.
（1）Novelty, which means that the invention or utility model does not belong to the existing technology: No company or individual has submitted an application to the patent administration department under the State Council before the application date for the same invention or utility model, and does not record the patent application document or the published patent document published after the filing date.
（2）Creativity, comparing with the existing technology, the invention has prominent substantive characteristics and remarkable progress, and the utility model has substantial characteristics and progress.
（3）Industrial applicability, which means that the invention or utility model can be manufactured or used, and can produce positive results.
The term "existing technology" as used in this law refers to technology known to the public at home and abroad before the date of application.
According to the Article 23 of the《Patent Law》, the design of the patent right granted shall not belong to the existing design; nor shall any company or individual submit an application to the patent administration department under the State Council before the application date for the same design, the same as recorded in the application.

The answer is no. The Article 42 of the 《Patent Law》stipulates that the duration of patent rights for inventions shall be 20 years, and the duration of patent rights for utility models and design patents shall be 10 years, counted from the date of filing. After the patent expires, it cannot be renewed, but it can be achieved through the improvement of technology and re-application for the purpose of continuing protection.

According to Article 25 of the《Patent Law》, the following objects cannot be granted patent rights
（Ⅰ）Scientific discovery
（Ⅱ）Intellectual activity rules and methods
（Ⅲ）Diagnosis and treatment of diseases
（Ⅳ）Animal and plant species
（Ⅴ）Substances obtained by nuclear transformation
（Ⅵ）The design of the logo and color for the flat prints, or the combination, which is mainly used for identification.

The patent applicant is the person who applied for a patent to the Patent Office for an invention; The patent inventor is a person who makes a creative contribution to the substantive features of an invention. The applicant can be a company or a natural person, and the inventor can only be a natural person. Under normal circumstances, the inventor and the applicant are the same person.

According to Article 54 of the 《Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Patent Law》：After the State Council's patent administrative department issues a notice of the grant of a patent right, the applicant shall register within 2 months from the date of receipt of the notification. If the applicant has gone through the registration formalities on time, the State Council's patent administration authority shall grant the patent right, issue a patent certificate, and make an announcement.
Therefore, the patent right can only be granted after paying a grant fee before issuing the certificate. As the registration fee only need to be paid after the patent has passed the examination, it is not necessary to pay in advance if you are not sure whether the patent will be approved.