“Invention” means any new technical solution relating to a product, a process or improvement thereof.First of all, an invention is a new technical solution. It is a technical solution to various problems in production, scientific research and experiments by using natural laws. Secondly, there are two basic types of invention claims according to their nature, which are divided into product claims and method claims. Product claims include things (products, equipment) produced by human technology, and method claims include activities with time process elements, which can be divided into method and use. An invention protected by patent law can also be an improvement on an existing product or method.

Generally speaking, the achievements obtained in the process of technological development and new product development, because of their high technical level, should apply for a patent for invention. For example, the application of laser technology is researched and developed, and a holographic grating synthetic leather is developed by using laser holographic or grating lithography lamination method for synthetic leather manufacturing. Then, whether this kind of leather itself or its manufacturing method should apply for invention patent. For another example, if a drug is developed by means of biochemical technology, both the drug and the method of manufacturing the drug should be patented. Still be like: some factory put forward the design scheme that improves air compressor, this scheme is realizable, the effect after its implementation will reduce production cost greatly, improve machine performance, this scheme can put forward to apply for invention patent. The technology applied for invention patent can be either a pioneering or pioneering invention that brings revolutionary changes to a certain discipline or a certain technical field, or an improved invention based on the existing technology with partial improvement and development.