The protection of Chinese patents has a certain time limit. Generally speaking, the law stipulates that it is 20 years, but the design period is different, and its term is ten years.
Legal basis:
Article 42 of the "Patent Law of the People's Republic of China" states that the term of invention patent rights is twenty years, and the term of utility model patent rights is The term of design patent rights is ten years, and the term of design patent rights is fifteen years, both calculated from the date of application.
If the invention patent right is granted after four years from the date of application for the invention patent and three years from the date of request for substantive examination, the patent administration department of the State Council shall, at the request of the patentee, make a decision on the invention patent in Unreasonable delays in the grant process will be compensated for the duration of the patent right, except for unreasonable delays caused by the applicant.
In order to compensate for the time taken up by the review and approval of new drugs, for invention patents related to new drugs that have been approved for marketing in China, the Patent Administration Department of the State Council will provide patent period compensation at the request of the patentee. The compensation period shall not exceed five years, and the total effective patent period after the new drug is approved for marketing shall not exceed fourteen years.