How long is the patent right valid?
At present, patents in China are divided into three categories, namely, invention patents, utility model patents and design patents. Article 42 of China's Patent Law stipulates that the legal validity period of an invention patent is 20 years; The legal validity period of utility model patent and design patent is 10 year. The patent right is protected by law within the validity period.
Why should we stipulate the validity period of patent right?
As the patent right is an intangible property right, unlike ordinary property rights, this right will not be terminated naturally due to the disappearance of the object, so the patent laws of various countries stipulate the term of the patent right for the following reasons:
1, patented technology itself has the characteristics of gradually losing property value with the passage of time and the improvement of technical level;
2. Patents have been monopolized for a long time, which is not conducive to the progress of science and technology and the development of the industry as a whole.
Start time of patent right:
1. The starting point of the validity of the invention patent right is the authorization announcement date, and the end point is the period of 20 years from the application date.
2. The effective starting point of utility model patent and design patent is from the date of authorization announcement to the date of 10 year after application.
The patentee shall pay the annual fee in accordance with the regulations.
The annual patent fee refers to the fee that the patentee shall pay to the Patent Office year by year from the year when the patent right is granted. If the patentee fails to pay the annual fee within the prescribed time limit, or the patent is declared invalid, the validity period of the patent will end ahead of schedule. If the patentee fails to pay the annual fee within the prescribed time limit, or the patent is declared invalid, the validity period of the patent will end ahead of schedule.
Any patent applied for has a protection period, and this protection period is limited in time. According to China's patent law, inventions include three categories, namely inventions, utility models and designs. Among them, the protection period of invention patent right is 20 years, and the protection period of utility model patent right and design patent right is 10 year. This shows that once an invention is patented, it can only be protected by law for 20 years at most. After this period of time, your inventions and technological innovations will be placed in the public domain and contributed to society for free.
Legal basis:
Article 11 of the Patent Law After the patent right for invention and utility model is granted, except as otherwise provided in this Law, no unit or individual may exploit the patent without the permission of the patentee, that is, it may not manufacture, use, promise to sell, sell or import its patented products for production and business purposes, nor may it use its patented methods and use, promise to sell, sell or import products directly obtained according to the patented methods.
After the design patent is granted, no unit or individual may exploit its patent without the permission of the patentee, that is, it may not manufacture, promise to sell, sell or import its patented product for production and business purposes.