Compiled from an official source version. Later amendments or repeals may not be reflected; the official text prevails.・Read the official text ↗
Term of patent.
SEC. 21. Term of patent.—The term of a patent shall begin on a date when the patent is issued as shown on the face thereof and shall expire seventeen years thereafter. However, a patent shall cease to be in force and effect if the patentee fails to pay the prescribed annual fees within the [prescribed times hereinafter provided or if the patent is canceled in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
Annual fees.
SEC. 22. Annual fees.—The first annual fee on a patent shall be due and payable on the expiration of four years from the date of issue. In a similar manner, annual fees on subsisting patents shall be due and payable on the fifth and each annual anniversary of the date of issue. If any annul fee is not paid on prescribed time, a notice of the nonpayment shall be published in the Official Gazette and the patentee shall have six months from the date of publication to pay the fee together with the surcharge required for the delayed payment. A notice of the lapsing of a patent for nonpayment of any annual fee shall be published in the Official Gazette.
Reinstatement of a lapsed.
SEC. 23. Reinstatement of a lapsed.—Within two years from the date on which the first unpaid annual fee was due, a patent which has lapsed for nonpayment of any fee may be reinstated upon payment of all annual fees then due and surcharge for reinstatement, and upon proof satisfactory to the Director that such nonpayment was due to fraud, accident, mistake or excusable negligence: Provided, however, That such reinstatement shall not be prejudice the rights acquired by a third person while the patent was not in force.
Provisions on this page are reproduced verbatim from official open data. See the attribution line.
Source: Supreme Court E-Library, Republic of the Philippines. Philippine laws are public documents (works of the government).