According to the provisions of the Patent Law, the term of the invention patent right is 20 years, and the term of the utility model patent right and the design patent right is 10 years, both of which are counted from the date of application. Many people think that the effective date of a patent is the date when the Patent Office makes an authorization decision or issues a patent certificate. Strictly speaking, however, the effective date of a patent must be counted from the date of patent announcement, regardless of whether the announcement date is the same as the authorization date and the patent certificate issuance date.
legal ground
Article 39 of the patent law
If the application for a patent for invention is 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, and register and announce it at the same time. The invention patent right shall take effect as of the date of announcement.