Important Statement (remind at the beginning every time)
The output of this skill isdrafts and auxiliary organization, and does not constitute legal advice. The final text of software copyright/patent must be reviewed by a professional agent or legal personnel; materials must not be fabricated or exaggerated (linked to a10).
Software Copyright (registration authority: Copyright Protection Center of China CPCC, ccopyright.com)
Software copyright only involvesformal registration, does not examine code quality/novelty, and confirms ownership and completion time.
- Software naming: full name + abbreviation + version number, standardized and registrable, reflecting functions; it is inconvenient to change after registration, so confirm before finalizing.
- Function description: software purpose, main function modules, operating environment, technical features.
- Operation manual: installation, configuration, operation steps for each function, with interface screenshots and function module descriptions.
- Source code organization: submitthe first 30 pages + the last 30 pages(continuous, about 50 lines per page; if fewer than 60 pages, submit all); the header contains the full software name + version number; remove personal/sensitive information from comments.
- Document: user manual or design specification, the first 30 pages + the last 30 pages rule is the same as for source code.
- Materials checklist verification: registration application form (generated by the system), source program, documents, identity/business license, ownership proof (corresponding proof is required for cooperative/commissioned/service development).
- Key information: development completion date, first publication date (if unpublished, this may be noted), version number, development method (independent/cooperative/commissioned/service), ownership of rights.
- Process and timeline: fill in the online registration system → submit → acceptance → examination (statutory about 30 working days, paid expedited processing available) → issue the Computer Software Copyright Registration Certificate. Materials must be truthful and corresponding, and must not be pieced together or fabricated. For templates and examination focus, see db08.
Patent
- Preliminary patentability assessment: whether it belongs to an invention/utility model/design; preliminary judgment of novelty, inventiveness, and utility; conduct a novelty search (see below).
- Technical disclosure organization: technical problem to be solved → defects of prior art → technical solution of the present invention → beneficial effects → innovation points.
- Draft claims：
- An independent claim recordsall essential technical featuresthat solve the problem, constituting the maximum scope of protection; the "two-part drafting method" is recommended: preamble part (subject name + features shared with the prior art) + characterizing part introduced by "characterized in that" (distinguishing technical features).
- Dependent claims use "The ... according to claim N, characterized in that ..." to add limitations layer by layer; when referencing multiple items, use "or", and must not reference an item with a higher number.
- Common combined layouts for software inventions: method + apparatus/system + computer-readable storage medium.
- Mustbe supported by the description; avoid functional/ambiguous wording ("about", "approximately"); keep terminology consistent throughout; multiple independent claims must belong to the same general inventive concept (unity).
- Description draft(mustbe sufficiently disclosed, enabling a person skilled in the art to carry it out), in the order of the Examination Guidelines: technical field → background technology (current state + comparison documents + objective defects) → summary of the invention (technical problem/technical solution/beneficial effects, with effects quantified where possible or a mechanism given) → description of drawings (each figure + list of reference signs) → specific embodiments (≥1 embodiment; for software, provide process/module interaction/pseudocode-level description so the solution can be reproduced). Every claim feature must find support in the description.
- Drawings: flowcharts/structural diagrams/schematic diagrams, drawn by m11 in accordance with patent drawing standards—for the specific standards (figure numbering arrangement, reference sign lines not crossing, black-and-white line drawings as the principle with no coloring, flowcharts/block diagrams corresponding to claim terminology) see the "Patent Drawing Standards" section of m11 (light-figure-drawing)
references.md. Patent drawings follow the black-and-white vector line workflow and do not adopt the color schemes/styles of paper data figures.
Practical guide to novelty/prior art searching
Choose a search system according to data scope (for item-by-item hard information on endpoints/field codes/authentication/rate limiting see references.md, here only selection guidance is given）：
| Scope | System | Key points |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese patents (authoritative) | CNIPA Patent Search and Analysis | Free but requires login, no public API, advanced fields + legal status filtering |
| Global free | Google Patents | URL parameter search; for large-scale use the BigQuery public dataset |
| PCT/cross-lingual | WIPO PATENTSCOPE | Field codes + CLIR, search foreign-language prior art in Chinese |
| European machine-readable | EPO OPS API | OAuth2 + CQL, traffic-light throttling |
| Patents ↔ papers | The Lens API | Integrated patents and academic literature, free authorization available |
| United States | USPTO（data.uspto.gov） | PatentSearch API, endpoint has migrated to ODP |
| Non-patent literature | OpenAlex | Supplement paper-type prior art (for access specifications see m01) |
- Search evidence (hit document numbers/dates/relevant passages) is kept on file with the invention disclosure; FTO/invalidity conclusions must be determined by a patent agent/lawyer, this skill does not draw legal conclusions.
Runnable assets (scripts/ and templates/, all verified to run with python/curl)
scripts/patent_search.py: prior art searching. OpenAlex/worksfor NPL searching (from 2026 a free key is required; for access specifications see the m01 source of truth;per_pagelimit 200), and constructs request bodies for The Lens / EPO OPS / USPTO ODP (these three require your own credentials; all tested as 401 = authentication required).python scripts/patent_search.py "关键词" --from-year 2015 --per-page 10 --mailto you@x.compython scripts/patent_search.py --print-adapters(print patent database request template)python scripts/patent_search.py --selftest(offline self-test, no network)
scripts/copyright_source_prep.py: software copyright source code material preparation. Generates submission text according to the rules "50 lines/page, ≤60 pages submit all otherwise first 30 + last 30 pages, header contains full name + version, comments desensitized".python scripts/copyright_source_prep.py --src <代码目录> --name "全称" --version V1.0 --out submit_source.txtpython scripts/copyright_source_prep.py --selftest
templates/disclosure_template.md: technical disclosure template.templates/claims_template.md: claims draft (method + apparatus + medium combined layout).templates/specification_template.md: description draft (in the order of the Examination Guidelines).templates/copyright_checklist.md: software copyright material checklist.
Outputs
Software copyright: full set of draft materials (set templates/copyright_checklist.md) + source code organization (copyright_source_prep.py) + screenshot organization suggestions.
Patent: patentability analysis + invention disclosure (disclosure_template.md) + draft claims (claims_template.md) + draft specification (specification_template.md) + search evidence (patent_search.py) + list of drawings + "requires agent review" annotation.
Linkage
Technical content is taken from m05/a03/a04/m07; the software copyright functional description and the patent background technology/invention content can reuse the corresponding paragraphs of the paper (m07)—the patent's "technical problem to be solved/beneficial effects" are highly homologous with the paper's Introduction/Results, and the software copyright functional description can also draw on the paper's methods and results paragraphs. Drawings are handed to m11 (for patent drawing specifications, see the "Patent Drawing Specifications" section in m11 references; black-and-white line drawings + figure number marking specifications); keep consistent with the paper/system (a07); materials are entered into db09. Search and ownership risks are reported to a10. Before delivery, pass the a08 (light-self-review) self-check gate.
The real endpoints/parameters of search tools, key points of drafting specifications, and known pitfalls are detailed in references.md.