How many years is a useful patent valid?

Legal analysis: the protection period of utility model patent: from the date of application 10 year. Invention patents, utility model patents and appearance patents; The protection period of the invention patent is ***20 years from the date of filing.

Legal basis: Article 2 of the Patent Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) 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.