How long is the term of the invention patent?

1. In China, different types of inventions have different protection periods. The term of the invention patent is 20 years; The term of utility model patent and design patent is 10 year, counting from the date of application. Although the patent term stipulated in Article 42 of the Patent Law is calculated from the date of application, this is only the starting point for the calculation of the patent term, which does not mean that the patent right will take effect from the date of application.

2. According to the provisions of the Patent Law, all patent rights shall take effect from the date of authorization announcement. Since a patent application must be examined by the Patent Office before it can be granted a patent right, it will take some time from the date of application to the announcement of authorization by the Patent Office. In this way, the term of validity of the patentee of invention patent must be less than 20 years, and the term of validity of the patentee of utility model and design patent must be less than 10 years.

3. Legal basis: Article 42 of the Patent Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) 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.