PatentFilter

January 14, 2008 7:12 AM

PatentFilter: When das a patent expire?

PatentFilter: When das a patent expire, assuming the company always pays the maintaining fees?

AFAIK it is 20 years. Not we have 3 dates on the patent:

1. Foreign filling date (priority date)
2. US filling date
3. Date of patent

1st is the oldest date, 3. the youngest.
Specific questions:
* After how many years does the patent expire?
* What is the relevant date out of the three?

Thx Yoyo

posted by yoyo_nyc to law & government (7 comments total)

Are you asking about a particular patent or in general? Do you mean a United States patent or some other country?
posted by jedicus at 7:27 AM on January 14, 2008

Depends on the jurisdiction. A US patent, IIRC, lasts 17 years with an optional extension whose length I forget. However, there are enough factors involved (jurisdiction, other IP claims, etc) that you really need to talk to a lawyer.
posted by spaceman_spiff at 7:32 AM on January 14, 2008

Clarification:

It is of cause a foreign patent that was submitted in the US. Hence the foreign PRIORITY DATE.
Now I am interested when it will run out in the US.
posted by yoyo_nyc at 7:34 AM on January 14, 2008

Without knowing the details of your specific situation (and without yet being a lawyer), I am in no way qualified to give you meaningful legal advice. I am currently, however, awaiting my grade in Patent Law, which I took last semester. So I will answer this question only in very general terms:

First, it depends on the years. The general rule is that patents filed after June 8, 1995 expire 20 years after the filing date. Patents filed before June 8, 1995 expire 17 years from the issue date or 20 years from the filing date, whichever is longer. As to what constitutes the "filing date," generally foreign priority dates (under the Paris Convention) are not used to determine the term, so one would look only to the United States filing date. If it's not a foreign application but instead an "international application" under the PCT, treatment is different.

What I have said above only applies in the most general terms and again I must repeat that you should seek competent counsel if you have a specific question that might cost you money.
posted by Partial Law at 8:27 AM on January 14, 2008 [1 favorite]

I'm not a lawyer. I'm basically just quoting from the MPEP. If you need to know when the patent expires for a business or legal reason, then you should consult a lawyer to be certain.

Generally (US patents and non-PCT patents claiming foreign priority):

If the US filing date is prior to June 8, 1995, then the patent will expire 17 years after the filing date or 20 years after the date of issue, whichever is greater.

If the US filing date is after June 8, 1995, then the patent will expire 20 years after the date of issue.

If the filing date is after June 8, 1995, then the patent term may be extended or adjusted as a result of an interference proceeding, court review, or slow handling by the Patent Office.

For international applications under the PCT:

A patent granted on an international application filed before June 8, 1995, and which entered the US national stage before, on, or after June 8, 1995, will have a term that is the greater of seventeen years from the date of grant or twenty years from the international filing date.

A patent granted on an international application filed on or after June 8, 1995 and which enters the national stage will have a term which ends twenty years from the filing date of the international application.
posted by jedicus at 8:29 AM on January 14, 2008

If the US filing date is prior to June 8, 1995, then the patent will expire 17 years after the filing issue date or 20 years after the date of issue filing, whichever is greater.

If the US filing date is after June 8, 1995, then the patent will expire 20 years after the date of issue filing.

"Filing date" for these purposes is the first filing of a non-provisional application. If there is a section called "related US Application Data" use the earliest date there, but not any dates for provisional applications - they will say provisional if it is.

Patent term adjustments are made for lots of patents. Newer patents list them on the face, older ones do not. If it is critical you should contact a patent attorney to help you get the exact expiration date. It could already have expired or been found invalid etc.
posted by caddis at 11:01 AM on January 14, 2008

Thanx so far guys. (more comments still appreciated).
posted by yoyo_nyc at 1:21 PM on January 14, 2008