Are lapsed patents useful or useless?

It's useless, it's useless to prove a patent. Invalid patents generally refer to patents that have not been approved in the end, have been authorized but have been declared invalid, or have lost their patent rights and are no longer protected by patent law due to various reasons prescribed by law.

Invalid patents become a free and shared social public resource due to expiration"Publicly-known"。Expired patented products are no longer protected. Because the invalid patents have already been patented and have been disclosed to the public, the refiled patent application is not novel.

However, if the invention or creation is improved on the basis of the original patent, the invention may be granted after applying for a patent.

The so-called invalidation of a patent right refers to the fact that after the patent right is granted, it is found that it does not meet the conditions for granting a patent right in the Patent Law and its implementation rules, and the patent right is confirmed and declared invalid by the Patent Reexamination Board, and the invalidated patent right is deemed to have existed ab initio.

According to Article 64 of the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China, the "grounds for requesting invalidation" of a patent right are the "circumstances" that lead to the invalidation of the patent right, including the following aspects:

1.The subject matter does not meet the conditions for granting a patent, including: the subject matter of the invention or utility model does not have novelty, inventiveness or utility; The subject matter of a design patent is not novel or conflicts with the prior legal rights of others.

2.Illegalities in patent applications: the specification does not fully disclose the invention or utility model; The claims of the granted patent are not based on the description; Amendments to the patent application documents are beyond the prescribed scope; The subject matter of the patent does not meet the definition of invention, utility model or design; the principle of negotiation authorization for simultaneous applications; The claims of the granted patent are unclear, unconcise or lack the necessary technical features to solve its technical problems;

3.Situations that violate mandatory provisions of law, including: violations of national laws, social morality, or obstruction of public interests; Circumstances in which patents are not granted by law such as scientific discoveries;

4.In the case of duplicate grant: If two or more applicants apply for a patent for the same invention-creation, the patent right is granted to the person who applied first, that is, the patent right is granted to only one person (the first applicant) for an invention-creation.

Inventions, utility models and designs cannot be patented under the above circumstances, but if they have already obtained a patent right, they may be declared invalid.

Invalid patents can be used by any unit or individual free of charge, thereby obtaining economic benefits. Any unit or individual can improve the invalid patent free of charge and implement it. The first utility has the same as the second, is:

Anyone can use a lapsed patent for free. Differences: the first utility, anyone directly enforces the invalid patent; The second is used as a stool for invalid patents, which can be implemented after improving the invalid patents.

Article 47 of the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China A patent right declared invalid shall be deemed to have ceased to exist ab initio. The decision to declare a patent right invalid shall not have retroactive effect on the judgment or mediation document on patent infringement made and enforced by the people's court before the declaration of patent invalidation of the patent right, the decision on the settlement of patent infringement disputes that have been performed or enforced, and the patent exploitation license contract and patent right transfer contract that have been performed. However, compensation shall be given for the losses caused to others by the patentee's bad faith.

Where the failure to return the large amount of money for patent infringement compensation, patent royalties, or patent right transfer fees in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph clearly violates the principle of fairness, it shall be returned in whole or in part.