How many years is the patent valid in China?

1. According to Article 42 of China's Patent Law, the term of invention patent right is 20 years, and the term of utility model patent right and design patent right is 10 year, all of which are counted from the date of application. 2. The filing date mentioned in the Patent Law refers to the priority date, if there is any priority. 3. Pay attention to the time limit for applying for patent protection, and the time limit for using other people's patents must be retrieved from the patent office before choosing to use them. 4. Maintaining the effectiveness of the patent right is based on the premise that the patentee pays the annual fee according to the regulations. When the patent right is terminated in advance due to the following circumstances: 1) The patentee fails to pay the annual fee as required. 2) The patentee waives his patent right in writing. 5. Article 39 of the Patent Law stipulates that if the application for a patent for invention is not rejected after substantive examination, the administrative department for patent in the State Council shall make a decision to grant the patent right for invention, issue a patent certificate for invention, register and announce the patent right for invention at the same time, and the patent right for invention shall take effect from the date of announcement. 6. For utility models and designs, Article 40 of the Patent Law also stipulates that if the application for a patent for utility models and designs is not found to be rejected after preliminary examination, the administrative department for patent in the State Council shall make a decision to grant the patent right for utility models or designs, issue the corresponding patent certificate, and register and announce it at the same time. 7. The patent right for utility model and design shall take effect as of the date of announcement. 8. The validity period of the invention patent is from the date of authorization announcement to 20 years after the application, and the utility model and design patent is from the date of authorization announcement to 10 years after the application. 9. The starting point of the validity period of the invention patent is the date of authorization announcement, and the end point is the date of 20 years from the date of application. 10, the above-mentioned validity period is based on the timely payment of corresponding fees (such as annual fees) by the patentee, during which the patent has not expired. 1 1. If the patentee fails to pay the annual fee within the prescribed time limit, or the patent is declared invalid, the validity period of the patent will end early. To sum up, China's invention patents are valid for 20 years, utility model patents and design patents are valid for 10 years, and the starting time is the application date. This is quite different from the validity period of American patents.