Legal analysis: the protection period of invention patent right is 20 years. Patents are different from trade secrets. Applying for a patent means that the protection period of an invention is limited. Once an invention is patented, it can only be protected by law for 20 years at most. Beyond this period, inventions and technological innovations will be placed in the public domain and contributed to society free of charge.
Legal basis: Article 42 of the Patent Law has a term of 20 years for invention patents and 10 years for utility model patents and design patents, counting from the date of filing.