I often hear that "invalid patents" are useless patents?

We often hear about invalid patents, so are invalid patents useless patents? Today, experts from Nanjing Hua Xun US patents will give you a brief introduction.

1. what is a lapsed patent?

An invalid patent generally refers to an invention-creation or patent that is not authorized or has lost its patent right for various reasons stipulated by law and is no longer protected by patent law.

How do 2. lapsed patents arise?

The causes of invalid patents are mainly the following:

(I) patent application documents do not meet the requirements for preliminary examination. After accepting a patent application, the State intellectual property Office shall conduct a preliminary examination on whether the application procedures are complete, whether the documents are complete, whether the description conforms to the provisions of the Patent Law, whether the identity of the applicant meets the requirements of the Patent Law, whether the subject matter of the invention falls within the scope of protection of the Patent Law, and whether the application fee has been paid. If the above items do not meet the requirements, the applicant is required to make corrections within the specified time limit. If the applicant fails to make corrections at the expiration of the time limit, his application shall be deemed to have been withdrawn. If, after the correction, it still does not meet the requirements of the Patent Law, it shall be rejected. A patent application that is "deemed withdrawn" or "rejected" becomes an invalid patent.

(II) patent applicants withdraw their applications after publication. After preliminary examination, the State Intellectual Property Office considers that the application for a patent for invention complies with the provisions of the Patent Law, and shall immediately publish the applicant's invention. The applicant shall request a substantive examination within the statutory period. If the applicant does not request substantive examination, the application shall be deemed to have been withdrawn and become an invalid patent.

(III) patent applicant fails to reply within the time limit without justifiable reasons. If the State Intellectual Property Office finds that the invention patent does not comply with the provisions of the Patent Law after the substantive examination, it shall notify the applicant and require it to state its opinions within the specified time limit or amend its application. If the applicant fails to reply within the time limit without justifiable reasons, it shall be deemed to have been withdrawn and thus become an invalid patent.

(IV) has not applied for patent protection in China. Patent rights are territorial, and patent rights granted by a country can only be supported and protected in areas governed by the law of that country. If a foreign patent does not apply for patent protection in China within one year, it will not be protected by the Chinese Patent Law, and the patent will become an invalid patent in China.

(V) the patentee fails to pay the fees on time. The patentee must fulfill the obligation to pay the patent maintenance fee, and if it fails to pay on time without justifiable reasons, it shall be regarded as an automatic waiver of the patent right and an invalid patent.

(VI) patent application for invention was rejected. The State Patent Administration Department considered that the statement and amendment of the patent applicant still did not comply with the provisions of the Patent Law, and rejected the patent application.

(VII) the application for withdrawal or patent right prior to the authorization of the patent is declared invalid. If the applicant withdraws the patent application before the patent right is granted, or after the patent right is granted, other units or individuals find that the grant of the patent right does not comply with the relevant provisions of the Patent Law, they may request the Patent Reexamination Board to declare the patent right invalid.

The (VIII) patentee automatically waives the patent right. Although some patented technologies are still under protection, the patentee has deemed that they are not of use value and is unwilling to continue to undertake various obligations for them, and automatically waives them in writing.

The term of (IX) protection expires. After the expiration of the term of the authorized patent protection, the patentee no longer enjoys the exclusive right. The term of patent protection in China is 20 years from the date of application.