Читать книгу Intellectual Property Law for Engineers, Scientists, and Entrepreneurs - Howard B. Rockman - Страница 58

Article, or apparatus, patents protect new machines, articles of manufacture, and compositions of matter. Article patents can also be written to cover improvements in any of these categories. These patents are granted for a term beginning on the date the patent issues, and normally ending 20 years from the date the application for the patent was first filed in the United States. If the patent claims priority from an earlier‐filed U.S. patent application directed to the same invention, other than a provisional application, 20 years from the date of the earliest such U.S. application would be the date of expiration. The term of patenting in the United States previously was 17 years from the date of issue; however, that was changed by the U.S. Congress in 1994.