Chapter V Duration, Termination and Invalidation of Patent Rights

Article 42 The duration of the invention patent right shall be 20 years and that of the utility model patent right and of the design patent right shall be ten years respectively, all commencing from the date of application.

Article 43 The patentee shall pay annual fees commencing from the year when the patent right is granted.

Article 44 Under any of the following circumstances, the patent right shall be terminated before the expiration of the duration:

(1) failure to pay the annual fee as required; or

(2) the patentee waiving of the patent right by a written declaration;

If a patent right is terminated before the duration expires, the patent administration department under the State Council shall register and announce such termination.

Article 45 Beginning from the date the patent administration department under the State Council announces the grant of a patent right, if a unit or individual believes that such grant does not conform to the relevant provisions of this Law, it or he may request that the patent review board declare the said patent right invalid.

Article 46 The patent review board shall examine the request for declaring a patent right invalid and make a decision in a timely manner and notify the requesting person and the patentee of its decision. The decision on declaring a patent right invalid shall be registered and announced by the patent administration department under the State Council.

A person that is dissatisfied with the patent review board's decision on declaring a patent right invalid or its decision on affirming the patent right may take legal action before a people's court, within three months from the date of receipt of the notification. The people's court shall notify the opposite party in the invalidation procedure to participate in the litigation as a third party.

Article 47 Any patent right that has been declared invalid shall be deemed to be non-existent from the beginning.

The decision on declaring a patent right invalid shall have no retroactive effect on any written judgment or written mediation on patent infringement that has been made and enforced by the people's court, or on any decision concerning the handling of a dispute over the patent infringement that has been performed or compulsively executed, or on any contract for permitted exploitation of the patent or for transfer of patent rights that has been performed--prior to the invalidation declaration of the patent right. However, compensation shall be made for the losses caused to another person mala fides by the patentee.

Where the patent infringement compensation, royalties, and patent right transfer fees are not refunded pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, which constitutes a blatant violation of the principle of fairness, refund shall be made fully or partly.