The Term of Patent

Under the current patent law, the term of patent is 20 years from the claimed filing date or 17 years from the issued date. The term of patent is the time period during which it can be maintained in force. It is expressed in number of years either from filing date of patent application or from date of grant of patent.

In most patent laws the renewal fees and the maintenance fees should be paid regularly to keep the patent in force, or else the patent gets lapsed before its term.

The term of patent may be curtailed by judgment of court, where the patent or claim is said invalid under the relevant law and hence not enforceable. The term of protection of patents shall not end before the expiration of period of twenty years from the filing date. There are other patents whose term may vary; a good example is the design patents have a term period of 14 years.

The term of patent as in the Indian Patent Act, 1970 are for process patents related to substances intended or capable of being used as food medicine or drugs – 5 years from the date of sealing of patent or seven years from the date of the patent whichever period is shorter. The intension was that all inventions in the field of medicines and drugs should pass through public domain in not more than seven years.

A patent shall cease to have effect not withstanding anything therein or in this act on the expiration of the period prescribed for the payment of any renewal fee, if that fee is not paid with that period as extended under the Indian patent act.

The period for the payment of any renewal fee shall be extended not more than six months as specified in a request made by the controller if the request is made and the renewal fee and the prescribed additional fee paid before the expiration of the period specified.

The term of patents protection may also be affected by specific multi-lateral, international agreements. The term of patent may be extended for periods longer than 20 years because of delayed response to an application request of patent, exceeding three years to consider a patent application and delays due to secrecy order or appeal. Time extension can be received equal to the amount of delay.

Posted in: INDIAN PATENT SYSYTEM,PATENT IN INDIA