At present, patents in China are divided into three categories, namely, invention patents, utility model patents and design patents. Article 42 of China's Patent Law stipulates that the legal validity period of an invention patent is 20 years; The legal validity period of utility model patent and design patent is 10 year. The patent right is protected by law within the validity period.
Second, why should we stipulate the validity period of the patent right?
As the patent right is an intangible property right, unlike ordinary property rights, this right will not be terminated naturally due to the disappearance of the object, so the patent laws of various countries stipulate the term of the patent right for the following reasons:
1, patented technology itself has the characteristics of gradually losing property value with the passage of time and the improvement of technical level;
2. Patents have been monopolized for a long time, which is not conducive to the progress of science and technology and the development of the industry as a whole.
Third, the starting time of the patent right:
1. The starting point of the validity of the invention patent right is the authorization announcement date, and the end point is the period of 20 years from the application date.
2. The effective starting point of utility model patent and design patent is from the date of authorization announcement to the date of 10 year after application.
The patentee shall pay the annual fee in accordance with the regulations.
The annual patent fee refers to the fee that the patentee shall pay to the Patent Office year by year from the year when the patent right is granted. 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 ahead of schedule. 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 ahead of schedule.
Legal basis:
Article 2 of the patent law
Invention-creation as mentioned in this Law refers to inventions, utility models and designs.
Invention refers to a new technical scheme proposed for a product, method or its improvement.
Utility model refers to a new practical technical scheme for the shape, structure or combination of products.
Appearance design refers to a new design that is aesthetically pleasing and suitable for industrial application, which is made on the shape, pattern or their combination of products and all or part of the combination of colors, shapes and patterns.
Article 42, paragraph 1
The term of patent right for invention is 20 years, the term of patent right for utility model is 10 year, and the term of patent right for design is 15 year, all of which are counted from the date of application.