After the termination of the patent right, the inventions protected by the patent right will become the wealth of the whole society. Anyone can use it for free. There are three main situations for the termination of patent right.
When the term of 1. expires, the invention patent right shall be maintained for 20 years from the date of application, and the utility model or design patent right shall be maintained for 10 years from the date of application, and shall be terminated according to law. Where the patent right expires and is terminated according to law, the Patent Office shall notify the patentee and register and announce it in the patent register and patent announcement respectively. After that, the patent application documents will be stored in the invalid file database for management and kept for at least another 3 years.
2. If the Patent Office fails to pay the annual fee and issue a notice of payment to inform the patentee to pay the annual fee and late payment fee for this year, and the patentee fails to pay or fails to pay the annual fee and late payment fee in full after the expiration of the annual fee, the Patent Office shall issue a notice of patent termination within two months, not earlier than one month, and notify the patentee that the recovery procedure has not been started or the recovery has not been approved since the expiration of the late payment fee, and shall register the patent within four months after the termination notice is issued. After that, the patent application file is stored in the invalid file database. The patent termination date shall be the last year's deadline.
3. The patentee voluntarily waives the patent right. The patentee may voluntarily give up his patent right if he voluntarily contributes his invention to the whole society. Where the patentee voluntarily renounces the patent right, it shall make a written statement in the format uniformly formulated by the Patent Office. The abandonment of patent right only allows the abandonment of all patents, not some patents. The statement of giving up part of the patent right is deemed not to have been made. After the patentee is not the real owner and maliciously requests to give up the patent right, the real owner of the patent right (who must provide valid legal documents to prove it) may request to cancel the declaration. When abandoning a patent with two or more patentees, all patentees shall agree and sign a statement or other documents. Where one or part of two or more patentees request to give up the patent right, the patentee shall be changed through the procedure of changing the recorded items. After the declaration of giving up the patent right that meets the requirements is approved, the Patent Office will register and announce relevant matters in the patent register and patent bulletin.