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You are here: Home / Archives for Patent application process / After Patent Grant / Patent Term

Patent term

Patent term is 20 years from the filing date of the earliest non-provisional patent application with any patent term adjustments.

Browse related articles below.

What is the term of a patent?

September 26, 2022 by James Yang

How long do patents last

The term of a utility patent is 20 years after the filing date of nonprovisional patent application with a few exceptions.  For a design patent, the term is 15 years after the grant date of the design patent. Term of a Utility Patent Basic calculation As indicated above, a utility patent will expire 20 years after the filing date of the nonprovisional patent application.  … [Read more...]

Can you re-patent an expired patent?

November 11, 2021 by James Yang

Second Chance OC Patent Lawyer Orange County Los Angeles County, CA

When your patent nears the end of its term, you might begin to think about how you can extend the life of your patent.  You might want to refile an application for a patent on the same invention.  But, can it be done? A patent cannot be refiled to extend the life of the patent on the same invention.  However, another patent can be secured on an improvement to the original … [Read more...]

Patent royalties not due for activities after patent expiration

July 22, 2015 by James Yang

Bottom line: Patent royalties based on activities after a licensed patent has expired is per se unlawful.  Kimble v. Marvel (S. Ct. 2015).  This rule is effective even if the parties did not know about the rule when they entered into the license agreement. Clients will often ask during the last days of a successful patent term how one might go about extending the … [Read more...]

Extend patent protection and receive more royalties

January 8, 2015 by James Yang

Bottom line: By filing a string of continuing patent applications and not claiming priority for the continuing patent applications back to a common parent application, the patent owner may be able to extend patent protection for its product. Under U.S. patent laws, an inventor can file a series of successive child patent applications.  This is commonly referred to as … [Read more...]

Patent term extension granted for some applications filed with RCE

January 25, 2014 by James Yang

Updated: January 20, 2022 Based on Novartis v. Lee (Fed. Cir. 2014), if patent prosecution lasted more than 3 years and you filed a request for continued examination, you should investigate whether you are due a patent term extension and file any request for correction within 180 days of patent issuance. 1.  History In 1994, Congress changed the method of measuring the … [Read more...]

Factors in deciding whether a patent is still enforceable

December 27, 2012 by James Yang

The stock answer is that a patent is enforceable for 20 years after filing. However, this is not the complete picture. First off, the patent term doesn’t start until the grant of the patent which may be anywhere from a few months for a design patent and a couple of years for a utility patent. The patent term is dependent upon the following factors: 1. Was the first filed … [Read more...]

What is the term of a patent?

May 25, 2010 by James Yang

The general rule is that the term of a patent is 20 years upon filing or 17 years upon issuance depending on the date that it was filed and whether it was enforceable on June 8, 1995. The term may be adjusted to account for delays caused by the Applicant or the Patent Office. If the patent is the second patent in a family of patents, then the patent term is calculated from the … [Read more...]

Adjusting Patent Term Due to Delays

February 8, 2010 by James Yang

Generally, the basic term of a patent is either 20 years from the filing date of the patent application or 17 years from the issue date of the patent whichever is greater.  However, there are many variations from the basic term.  For example, the patent term for a continuation patent is calculated not from its own filing date but the filing date of its parent application.  … [Read more...]

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