Patent fee is the annual fee that the patentee should pay to maintain the validity of his patent right during the period after being granted the patent right.
The patentee is the subject of the patent right. The patentee includes the patentee and the obligee. The former can be citizens, collective ownership units, foreign trade enterprises or Sino-foreign joint ventures. The latter is a unit owned by the whole people. The patentee also includes the original subject who initially obtained the patent right and the successor subject of the patent right in derivative acquisition.
You need to pay an annual patent fee every year. If you don't pay, there will be a late fee. After more than half a year, the patent is invalid and needs to be restored to regain the patent right.
In Article 42 of the Patent Law of People's Republic of China (PRC), the patent right for invention is 20 years, the patent right for utility model is 10 year, and the patent right for design is 15 year, all of which are counted from the date of application.
Where a patent for invention is granted for four years from the date of application for a patent for invention and three years from the date of request for substantive examination, the patent administration department of the State Council shall, at the request of the patentee, compensate for the unreasonable delay of the invention patent in the process of authorization, except for the unreasonable delay caused by the applicant.
In order to compensate for the time occupied by the review and approval of new drugs, the patent administration department of the State Council shall compensate the patentee for the patent term of new drug-related invention patents that have been approved for listing in China. The compensation period shall not exceed five years, and the total effective patent right period after the new drug is approved for marketing shall not exceed fourteen years. Article 43 The patentee shall pay the annual fee from the year when the patent right is granted. Article 44 In any of the following circumstances, the patent right shall be terminated before the expiration of the time limit:
(a) failing to pay the annual fee in accordance with the provisions;
(2) The patentee waives his patent right in writing.
Where the patent right is terminated before the expiration of the time limit, it shall be registered and announced by the patent administration department of the State Council. Article 47 The decision to declare the patent right invalid shall have no retrospective effect on the patent infringement judgment and conciliation statement made and executed by the people's court before the patent right was declared invalid, the executed or executed patent infringement dispute settlement decision, and the executed patent licensing contract and patent transfer contract. However, if the patentee's malice causes losses to others, it shall make compensation.
If the patent infringement compensation, patent exploitation fee and patent transfer fee are not returned in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph, which obviously violates the principle of fairness, they shall be returned in whole or in part.