Patent law

Term and scope of protection of patent

The duration of patent right for inventions shall be twenty years, and the duration of the patent right for utility models and patent right for designs shall be ten years, counted from the date of filing.

The scope of protection in the patent right for an invention or a utility model shall be determined by the contents of the patent claim. The specification and appended drawings may be used to interpret the patent claim. The scope of protection in the patent right for a design shall be determined by the product incorporating the patented design as shown in the drawings or photographs.