A patent gives you the right to prevent others from making, using, selling, offering to sell, or importing the innovation it covers for a limited period. So, how long does that protection last? The answer varies by the type of patent. Utility and plant patents, which cover new inventions and plant varieties, typically expire 20 years after the date you file for the patent. Design patents generally last 15 years from issuance.
Jones IP Law helps inventors, entrepreneurs, startups, and established businesses protect their innovations. Founder Michael Jones combines a background in mechanical engineering with more than a decade of intellectual property experience representing technologies ranging from mechanical devices and manufacturing systems to computer software, machine learning, cloud computing, and digital asset platforms. When you work with us, we help you identify which type of patent can protect your innovation, apply for protection, calculate its expiration date, and manage the requirements to keep it in force.
What Types of Patents Can You Get?
Federal law authorizes the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to issue three types of patents:
- Utility patents—protect new and useful processes, machines, manufactured products, compositions of matter, and improvements to them;
- Design patents—protect new, original, and ornamental designs for manufactured items; and
- Plant patents—protect new and distinct plant varieties that someone invents or discovers in a cultivated area and asexually reproduces.
Utility patents protect how an invention works, what it does, or how someone uses it, making them the most common type of patent for inventors.
How Long Does a Patent Last?
The patent type that covers your innovation determines how long the patent can remain in effect and which date federal law uses to calculate its expiration. Utility and plant patents generally expire 20 years after your application’s filing date. Design patents generally last 15 years from issuance.
How Long Does Patent Protection Last If You Use a Provisional Application?
When you request utility or plant patent protection, you can file a “provisional” or “nonprovisional” application. The nonprovisional application asks the USPTO to begin reviewing the patentability of your innovation. A provisional application is an optional initial application that allows you to establish a filing date for an innovation that is not yet ready for USPTO review. Within 12 months of filing a provisional patent application, you must file a nonprovisional application to continue pursuing patent protection.
If you begin the patent process with a provisional application, you establish an earlier filing date for priority purposes. Since plant and utility patents have a term that is dependent on filing date, that raises an important question: How long do patents last when you start with a provisional application?
After the USPTO issues it, the resulting patent’s 20-year term begins from the date you file the nonprovisional application, not the earlier provisional application date.
How Can You Keep a Patent in Force?
If you own a utility patent, you generally must pay maintenance fees 3 1⁄2, 7½, and 11½ years after the USPTO issues it. If you miss one of those deadlines, you can pay the fee and a surcharge during the following six-month grace period to keep your patent in force. If you still do not pay during the grace period, the utility patent expires. If you still do not pay during the grace period, the utility patent expires. You may petition the USPTO to accept a delayed payment and reinstate the patent if the delay was unintentional.
Design and plant patent owners do not pay post-issuance maintenance fees.
What Happens When a Patent Expires?
When a patent expires, its owner can no longer use that patent to prevent others from making, using, selling, offering to sell, or importing what the patent covered. Other people may generally use the formerly patented innovation without obtaining the owner’s permission or paying for that use.
Patent expiration allows others to use what the patent covered, but separate intellectual property rights may still limit what they can do. Trademark, copyright, or trade secret law may also continue to protect eligible branding, creative material, or confidential information.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can You Renew a Patent After 20 Years?
You generally cannot renew a patent after its term has expired. If you develop a patentably distinct improvement, you may apply for a separate patent that protects the improvement for its own term.
What Happens When a Patent Expires?
The owner loses the exclusive rights granted by the patent. Other people may generally use what the patent covered, although other intellectual property rights may continue to protect separate aspects of the product or technology.
How Long Does a Provisional Patent Last?
A provisional application can last for 12 months, during which time you must submit a nonprovisional application to continue pursuing patent protection. If the USPTO grants a patent based on the later nonprovisional application, the patent typically lasts 20 years from the nonprovisional filing date.
Do You Have to Pay Fees to Keep a Patent Active?
Utility patent owners generally must pay maintenance fees after issuance to keep their patents in force. Design and plant patent owners do not pay post-issuance maintenance fees.
Does a Patent Expire If You Don’t Use It?
You do not have to make, use, or commercialize your innovation to keep its patent in force. The patent remains in effect until its term ends unless a specific circumstance shortens it, such as failure to pay required utility patent maintenance fees.
Develop a Patent Strategy for Your Innovation
The nature of your innovation determines which patent may protect it, and the patent type determines how federal law calculates its term. Once the USPTO issues the patent, you must meet any applicable requirements to keep it in force. As your innovation develops or an existing patent approaches expiration, you can evaluate whether later developments qualify for separate protection.
Michael Jones draws on his engineering background and extensive intellectual property experience to help clients identify protectable innovations, prepare and prosecute patent applications, calculate patent terms, and manage maintenance requirements. Contact Jones IP Law to discuss how long your patent protection may last and develop a strategy that supports the expected commercial life of your innovation.
Legal References Used to Inform This Page
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