How many years is the statute of limitations for patent infringement?

The limitation of action for patent infringement is two years. Counting from the date when the patentee or interested party knows or should know about the infringement. Some persistent patent infringements have not been investigated within two years since the obligee knew or should have known that the patent was infringed. When the obligee brings an infringement lawsuit, the patent right of the obligee is still within the protection period stipulated by law, and the infringer is still carrying out the infringement. For this kind of continuous patent infringement, if more than two years pass from the date when the patentee knows or should know that the infringement occurred to the date when the patentee brings a lawsuit to the people's court, the court will generally order the defendant to stop the infringement, but the amount of compensation for infringement losses should be calculated forward for two years from the date when the patentee brings a lawsuit to the people's court, and the infringement losses exceeding two years will not be protected.

The calculation method of patent infringement loss compensation is as follows:

The Supreme People's Court made a judicial interpretation to calculate the amount of patent infringement compensation, and stipulated three calculation methods:

1. The actual economic losses suffered by the patentee due to infringement shall be regarded as damages;

2. The amount of compensation for losses shall be all the profits obtained by the infringer due to infringement. Its arithmetic formula can be expressed as follows: the profit of each infringing product, the total sales of infringing products = infringement profit;

3. Take a reasonable amount not less than the patent license fee as the amount of compensation for losses.

In addition, influenced by the legal compensation system of some countries, the courts in China adopt the fixed compensation method for some intellectual property cases which are difficult to calculate damages. The range of fixed compensation is generally between 5,000 yuan and 300,000 yuan, and the specific amount is determined by the people's court on a case-by-case basis according to the economic value of the infringed patent, the duration of the infringement, the degree of influence of the patentee due to the infringement and other factors.

There are many ways to solve patent infringement disputes, and the parties do not have to choose litigation. But in other words, it is a more effective way to bring a lawsuit to the court. But at this time, it is necessary to know the statute of limitations of patent infringement, otherwise, the lawsuit filed with the court may not be accepted.

Legal basis: Article 26 of the Patent Law of People's Republic of China (PRC).

To apply for a patent for invention or utility model, a written request, a specification, an abstract thereof, a patent claim and other documents shall be submitted.

The request shall specify the name of the invention or utility model, the name of the inventor, the name and address of the applicant and other matters.

The specification shall give a clear and complete description of the invention or utility model, which shall be subject to the realization of the technical personnel in the technical field; Attached drawings shall be attached when necessary. The technical points of the invention or utility model shall be briefly explained.

The patent claim shall be based on the specification, and clearly and briefly define the scope of patent protection.

For inventions that rely on genetic resources, the applicant shall state the direct source and original source of genetic resources in the patent application documents; If the applicant cannot explain the original source, it shall explain the reasons.