How long is the term of protection of an EU design patent

The term of protection for an EU design is 5 years from the filing date and can be renewed four times for a maximum period of 25 years.

An EU design patent is filed directly with the European Union Trademark and Patent Office and is valid in 27 countries. The EU's 27 member states include: France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania.

After submitting the application, you will receive an acceptance number in about half a month.

Examination: The European Union Trademark Office examines the application on the basis of only two absolute grounds of refusal:

1. Whether the main object meets the definition of design;

2. Whether the design violates public order and good customs.

The term of protection is 5 years from the filing date and can be renewed 4 times for 5 years each time, with a maximum term of 25 years.

Term of protection of an EU design patent: The term of protection for an EU design is 5 years from the filing date, and it can be renewed four times after expiration, each for 5 years, for a total of 25 years.

At present, the regional patents of the European Union include European Patents (European Invention Patents) and EU Design Patents

1. European patent application.

A patent granted under the European Patent Convention is called a European patent, and it is an invention granted with industrial applicability, absolute novelty, and inventive step. European patents are filed through the European Patent Office (EPO) and the applicant can request that the European patent be granted valid in one or more of the contracting states (currently, European patents are valid in 34 contracting states and 4 extension countries).

Application routes: PCT route, Paris Convention route.

Application Process:1Preparation of application documents 2

Filing an application with the European Patent Office 3Acceptance (notification of receipt by the European Patent Office) 4Formalities examination (formalities examination by the European Patent Office on the format and other aspects of the patent) 5

Search report (the European Patent Office makes a search report on the application, and the applicant needs to answer the search report) 6Disclosure (Disclosure of a patent application upon expiration of 18 months from the filing date (priority date)) 7Request for Substantive Examination (The applicant must submit a request for examination within 6 months from the date of publication of the application documents) 8

Substantive examination (the application is examined by the European Patent Office and the applicant must file a reply to the notification of reasons for reasons of action) 9Grant and publication (if the patent application meets the legal requirements, the European Patent Office grants a patent for the invention and publishes the grant of the patent) Validation procedures (the applicant must complete the validation procedures in the country where patent protection is to be obtained, and in some countries it is required to submit a translation of the Chinese language for the claims or other patent documents).

2. EU design patent application.

The EU design patent is a design patent that is directly applied to the European Union Intellectual Property Office and is valid in 28 EU countries at the same time, which has the characteristics of fast grant, low cost, wide coverage and long term of protection.

The 28 member states of the European Union are: France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia. United Kingdom (Brexit, not affected for the time being, but may not be protected if Brexit is successful).

How to apply: Paris Convention route.

Application Process:1Preparation of application documents 2

Filing an application with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) 3Acceptance (Notice of Acceptance by the European Union Intellectual Property Office) 4Examination (formal examination by the EUIPO of the patent, etc., in terms of formatting) 5

Authorization (if the application meets the legal requirements, the EUIPO issues the EU design certificate and publishes the authorization).

Not sure, the market is changing rapidly.

Legal Analysis: The term of protection of a design patent is 15 years, which is calculated from the date of filing. Design refers to a new design that is aesthetically pleasing and suitable for industrial application made on the whole or part of the shape, pattern or combination thereof, as well as the combination of color and shape and pattern.

Legal basis: Article 42 of the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China The term of a patent for invention shall be 20 years, the term of a utility model patent right shall be 10 years, and the term of a design patent right shall be 15 years, all of which shall be calculated from the date of filing. If the patent right is granted after four years from the date of application for the invention patent and three years after the date of the request for substantive examination, the patent administration department shall, at the request of the patentee, compensate the patent right for the unreasonable delay in the process of granting the invention patent, except for the unreasonable delay caused by the applicant.

In order to compensate for the time occupied by the review and approval of new drugs, the patent administration department shall compensate the patent right term at the request of the patentee for invention patents related to new drugs that have obtained marketing authorization in China. The compensation period shall not exceed five years, and the total effective patent term after the approval of the new drug shall not exceed 14 years.

1. How many years is the term of protection of a design patent?

1. The term of protection of the appearance patent is 10 years. In the case of designs, the term of protection varies in national laws, but in France it is 25 years from the date of filing, with the possibility of a further 25 years upon declaration by the holder. It can be seen that the term of protection of design patents in China is relatively short compared with that of developed countries.

2. Legal basis: Article 23 of the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China.

The design for which the patent right is granted shall not be an existing design; Nor has any unit or individual filed an application for the same design with the patent administration department before the filing date, and it is recorded in the patent documents published after the filing date.

The design for which a patent is granted shall be distinctly different from the prior design or a combination of features of the prior design.

The design for which a patent is granted must not conflict with the legal rights of another person who have already acquired before the filing date.

For the purposes of this Law, the term "existing design" refers to a design that has been known to the public at home and abroad before the filing date.

2. What are the criteria for judging the infringement of a design patent?

1. The actor must subjectively have the intention to infringe the design patent;

3. The patentee incurs actual losses;

4. There is a causal relationship between the actual loss and the aforesaid acts.

The term of protection of a design patent is fifteen years. According to the relevant laws and regulations, after the parties are granted a patent right in accordance with the law, the term of the patent right for utility models is 10 years, for designs for 15 years, and for inventions for 20 years.

Legal basis] Article 42 of the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China.

The term of an invention patent is 20 years, 10 years for a utility model and 15 years for a design, all of which are calculated from the filing date.

Article 43.

The patentee shall pay the annual fee from the year in which the patent right is granted.

Article 44.

The patent right shall be terminated before the expiration of the term under any of the following circumstances:

1) Failure to pay annual fees in accordance with regulations;

2) The patentee renounces its patent right by a written declaration.

If the patent right is terminated before the expiration of the term of the patent right, it shall be registered and announced by the patent administration department.

1. Patent time limit.

The term of protection of an invention patent right is 20 years, and the term of a utility model patent right and a design patent right is 10 years, during which an annual fee must be paid to maintain the patent.

Therefore, we can divide patent expiration into two possibilities:

1) The patent term is terminated upon expiration and the protection is terminated in accordance with the law;

2) If the applicant fails to pay or pay the annual fee and late fee in full, the patent right shall be terminated from the date of expiration of the previous year.

2. Remedies for patent expiration.

1.Expired within 1 month.

If the patentee fails to pay the annual fee within the time limit or does not pay enough, there is a one-month deferral period, and the annual fee shall be paid in a timely manner during the deferral period, and no additional late fee shall be paid.

2.Expires 2-6 months.

If the patent annuity fee is not paid for more than one month, the applicant will receive a Notice of Payment issued by the Patent Administration Department, which will carefully list all the fees that the patentee should pay, including the annual fee and late payment fee.

For late fees, if the patent is overdue and the annual fee is not paid for 2 or 6 months, % of the annual fee for the whole year of the year needs to be paid as a late fee.

3.More than 6 months.

If the patent annuity fee is not paid for more than 6 months, a Notice of Termination of Patent Rights will be received, but the patentee can still keep his patent rights.

At this time, the patentee can submit an application for restoration of rights within 2 months from the receipt of the notice, paying the annual patent fee, 25% late fee, and 1,000 yuan of patent restoration fee on time.

4.If you ignore it within the time limit, you will completely lose your patent right.

In particular, it refers to the failure to go through the procedures for the restoration of the patent right and pay the relevant fees within 2 months of receiving the Notice of Termination of the Patent Right, and the patent right is generally terminated completely, cannot be restored, and can be used by the whole people.

5.What should I do if I completely lose my patent right?

Generally speaking, whether it is an invention patent, a utility model patent, or a design patent, after the expiration of the term of protection, many of them no longer have the novelty required for the patent, and the loss of the patent right can only save the situation by re-applying for a patent.

After the loss of the patent right, as long as the original technical solution is added, the new or improved technical solution can successfully obtain patent protection.

Article 42 of China's Patent Law stipulates that the term of a patent for invention shall be 20 years, and the term of a utility model patent and a design patent shall be 10 years, both of which shall be calculated from the filing date.

After a design is granted, it is only protected for a certain period of time as prescribed by law, and each country grants different terms of protection to a design according to its own level of economic development and different needs for design protection. The term of protection in China is 10 years from the filing date; The term of protection in the United States is 14 years from the date of grant; The term of protection in Japan is 20 years from the filing date; The term of protection in Korea is 15 years from the date of registration of the grant.

The term of protection for a design patent is 10 years from the filing date.

There are three types of patents in China, namely: invention, utility model, and design. The object of an invention patent can be a method or a product; The object of the utility model can only be a product, and it can only involve the improvement of the structure and function of the product; The object of design protection is the appearance of the product.

The term of protection of invention patents is the longest, 20 years, and the stability is the highest, but the application requirements are relatively strict, the authorization is difficult, the average authorization ratio is about 30%, and the annual fee is also higher than that of utility models and designs, but the protection period is the longest. Utility model and appearance patents have a protection period of 10 years, and their stability is not as stable as invention patents, but the requirements for authorization are low.

10 years from the filing date.

The Patent Law stipulates that the term of protection of a design patent right shall be 10 years, calculated from the filing date. The patentee shall pay the annual fee from the year in which the patent right is granted, and if the annual fee is not paid in accordance with the regulations, the validity of the patent right will be terminated before the expiration of the term of protection.

Patents enter the public domain after the expiration of the term of protection or when they expire due to non-payment of annual fees, for example.

In view of the short term of protection of design patents, if the right holder needs a longer period of protection, the product design drawings can be registered as copyrights. The term of protection of a copyright is longer than that of a design patent, and if the copyright owner is a legal person, the term of protection expires on December 31 of the 50th year after the first publication of the design.

The term of protection for designs in Europe and the United States is 5 years from the filing date and can be renewed four times after the expiration of the application, each for a total of 25 years.

1. What materials should be prepared for the application for design patent?

According to the provisions of relevant laws and regulations, when applying for a design patent, the applicant should submit a written request, a brief description of the design, or a brief description of the design. The applicant's submission of ** or ** should clearly indicate the first design of the product for which patent protection is sought. The detailed rules for the implementation of China's patent law clearly stipulate that if the applicant requests protection of color, he should submit color ** or **.

The applicant should submit a copy of the content of each design product that needs to be protected.

2. How long does it take to apply for a design patent?

It takes at least six months and no more than eighteen months to apply for a design patent. To apply for a design patent, you first need to file an application with the Patent Office, and after about three to four months, the application will be preliminarily examined. After the completion of the preliminary examination, a Notice of Procedures for Boarding and Disturbance will be issued to the applicant.

After the applicant completes the information and pays the corresponding fees (including patent annuity fee, patent registration fee, publication printing fee, stamp duty), the patent will be authorized and the relevant announcement will be issued in about a month.

Legal basis. Article 34 of the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China*** After receiving an application for a patent for invention, if it is found to meet the requirements of this Law after preliminary examination, it shall be published immediately after 18 months from the date of application. The patent administration department may publish the application at an early date at the request of the applicant.

Article 35 Within three years from the date of filing of an application for a patent for invention, the patent administration department may, at the request of the applicant at any time, conduct a substantive examination of the application; If the applicant fails to request substantive examination within the time limit without justifiable reasons, the application shall be deemed to be withdrawn. When the patent administration department deems it necessary, it may conduct a substantive examination of the invention patent application on its own.