Patent

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Revision as of 08:42, 29 January 2009 by imported>Robert Badgett (→‎United States)
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United States

In the United States, the duration of a patent is:[1]

  • 17 years for patents issued before June 8, 1995
  • 20 years for patents issued after June 8, 1995

However, patents for products such as food additives and drugs that require approval by federal entities such as the US Food and Drug Administration prior to marketing, can have a maximum of 5 years extended to the patent to compensate for marketing time lost while waiting for approval." In all cases, the total patent life for the product with the patent extension cannot exceed 14 years from the product’s approval date, or in other words, 14 years of potential marketing time. "[1][2]