Chapter V Duration, Termination and Invalidation of Patent Right
Article 42 The term of patent right for invention is 20 years, and the term of patent right for utility model and patent right for design is 10 years, counting from the date of application.
Article 43 The patentee shall pay the annual fee from the year when the patent right is granted.
Article 44 In any of the following circumstances, the patent right shall be terminated before the expiration of the time limit:
(a) failing to pay the annual fee in accordance with the provisions;
(2) The patentee waives his patent right in writing.
Where the patent right is terminated before the expiration of the time limit, it shall be registered and announced by the patent administration department of the State Council.
Article 45 From the date when the patent administrative department of the State Council announced the grant of the patent right, any unit or individual may request the Patent Reexamination Board to declare the patent right invalid if it considers that the grant of the patent right is not in conformity with the relevant provisions of this Law.
Article 46 The Patent Reexamination Board shall promptly examine the request for invalidation of the patent right and make a decision, and notify the requester and the patentee. The decision to declare the patent right invalid shall be registered and announced by the patent administration department of the State Council.
Anyone who refuses to accept the decision of the Patent Reexamination Board to declare the patent right invalid or maintain the patent right may bring a lawsuit to the people's court within three months from the date of receiving the notice. The people's court shall notify the other party to the procedure for requesting invalidation to participate in the proceedings as a third party.
Article 47 An invalid patent right shall be regarded as nonexistent from the beginning.
The decision to declare the patent right invalid has no retrospective effect on the patent infringement judgments and conciliation statements made and executed by the people's court before the patent right was declared invalid, the decisions on handling patent infringement disputes that have been performed or executed, and the patent licensing contracts and patent transfer contracts that have been performed. However, if the patentee's malice causes losses to others, it shall make compensation.
If the patent infringement compensation, patent exploitation fee and patent transfer fee are not returned in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph, which obviously violates the principle of fairness, they shall be returned in whole or in part.
People's Republic of China (PRC) Patent Law:/zcfg/flfg/zl/fl/201509/t20150902 _169595.html.