Where an application for a patent for invention has undergone substantive examination, and an application for a patent for utility model or design has undergone preliminary examination, and no reason for rejection is found, the Patent Office shall make a decision to grant the patent right, issue a patent certificate, and register and announce it in the patent register and patent bulletin at the same time. The patent right shall take effect as of the date of announcement.
The term of patent right refers to the legal term and termination time of patent right stipulated in the patent law. From the date of authorization announcement to the date of expiration of the patent right, the patent right shall be protected by law. According to the provisions of Article 42 of the Patent Law, the term of the invention patent right is 20 years, the term of the utility model patent right is 10 year, and the term of the design patent right is 15 year, all of which are counted from the date of application.
For most countries, the protection period of invention patents is less than 20 years. But for design patents, the protection period in many countries is longer than 10 year. For example, in Japan, Russia and other countries, the longest period of design protection can be 15 years, while in Germany and Spain, the longest period can be 20 years.