Termination of patent rights and invalidity of patent rights
Patent rights Termination
Patent right is an intangible property right with a limited time limit. When the time limit expires, the right will be terminated according to law. At the same time, more patent rights may be terminated before expiration because the patentee is unwilling to maintain them or voluntarily gives them up. After the patent rights are terminated, the inventions and creations protected by the patent rights become the wealth of the whole society. Anyone can use it for free. There are three main situations in which patent rights are terminated:
1. Upon expiration of the term, the invention patent right shall be maintained for 20 years from the filing date, and the utility model or design patent right shall be maintained for 10 years from the filing date. Terminate by law.
If the patent right expires and is terminated in accordance with the law, the Patent Office shall notify the patentee and register and announce it in the Patent Register and Patent Gazette respectively. After that, the patent application files will be stored in the expired file database and kept for at least another 3 years.
2. Termination if the annual fee is not paid as required
The Patent Office issues a payment notice, notifying After the patentee has paid the annual fee and late payment penalty for the current year, if the patentee fails to pay the annual fee and late payment penalty for the current year at the expiration of the late payment period, or has paid in full the annual fee and late payment penalty for the current year, within two months from the expiration date of the late payment period, At the earliest no later than one month, the Patent Office shall issue a notice of patent termination and notify the patentee. If the patentee has not initiated the restoration procedure or the restoration has not been approved, the Patent Office shall, four months after the issuance of the notice of termination, notify the patentee in the patent register and They will be registered and announced in the Patent Gazette respectively. Afterwards, the patent application files are stored in the expired file database.
The patent expiration date shall be the expiration date of the previous year.
3. The patentee voluntarily gives up the patent rights
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The patentee voluntarily contributes his inventions and creations to the whole society, and can make a statement to voluntarily give up the patent rights. If the patentee voluntarily gives up the patent rights, he should use the form uniformly formulated by the Patent Office to make a written statement.
Relinquishment of patent rights only allows the relinquishment of all patent rights, and does not allow the relinquishment of part of the patent rights. The statement of relinquishment of part of the patent rights is deemed to have not been made. The patentee is not the real owner and has bad faith. After requesting to abandon the patent right, the real owner of the patent right (must provide valid legal documents to prove) can request to withdraw the declaration.
Abandonment of a patent with more than two persons When applying for a patent from a patentee, all patentees must obtain their consent and sign a statement or other document. If one or some of the two or more patentees request to give up the patent, they must obtain the consent of all patentees. Go through the procedures for changing the bibliographic items and changing the patentee.
After the declaration of disclaimer of patent rights that meets the regulations is approved, the Patent Office will record the relevant matters in the patent register and the patent Registration and announcement in the Gazette. The statement will take effect upon registration and announcement.
Invalidity of patent rights
In order to safeguard the interests of the public and ensure that patent rights only protect those inventions and creations that really should be protected, the Patent Law stipulates that from the date when the Patent Office announces the grant of a patent right, any unit or individual believes that the patent If the grant does not comply with the relevant provisions of the Patent Law, you can request the Patent Reexamination Board to declare the patent invalid.
The invalidation procedure is important for adjusting the relationship between the patentee and the public. It is very necessary. In fact, many requests for invalidation appear in the so-called "counterclaim", that is, when the patentee accuses a unit or individual of infringing its patent rights to the patent administration agency or the people's court, the accused unit or individual When there are indeed reasons to believe that the patent right should not be granted, you can in turn request the Patent Reexamination Board to declare the patent right invalid.
Request to declare the patent right invalid or partially invalid If it is invalid, you must pay the fee as required and submit a request for invalidation of the patent right and necessary evidence in duplicate to the Patent Reexamination Board. The request for invalidation should indicate the name and patent number of the patent requested to be invalidated and state the basis. Facts and reasons, and indicate the evidence on which each reason is based, and attach the necessary evidence. The Patent Reexamination Board sends a copy of the document to the patentee and requires the patentee to respond within a specified time limit. When responding, the patentee may amend its claims. However, the amendment shall not expand the scope of protection of the original patent. The failure of the patentee to reply will not affect the review.Management proceeds. If any party is dissatisfied with the decision made by the Patent Reexamination Board on the invalidation request, it may file a lawsuit with the People's Court within 3 months from the date of receipt of the notice.
The above are the editor’s answers to relevant questions. If you need to know more about legal knowledge, you are welcome to enter the Legal Savior Network for legal consultation.
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