Patent Term Adjustment (PTA)

The “standard” term of a granted patent begins when issued with a patent number assigned and ends in 20 years from the date when the application for a patent was filed with the PTO. In case of a PCT national stage application, the patent term ends in 20 years from the date when a PCT International Stage Application was filed with the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Office).

Adjustable Patent Term
Patent Term Adjustment under 35 U.S.C. §154(b) stipulates extension or reduction of the standard patent term. The calculation of PTA is intended to adjust the patent term by compensating for delays caused by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) during the examination process while deducting for delays caused by applicants.
The adjusted patent term is obtained by deducting an applicant’s delay from the PTO delay. To make it simple, the formula goes: PTA = (Days of PTO delay) – (Days of Applicant Delay)

14M-4M-4M-4M Rule
(i) When the USPTO fails to issue a notice, i.e., mail a restriction requirement, a non-final office action, or a notice of allowance, within 14 months after the application filing date;
(ii) When the USPTO fails to respond to an applicant’s Reply within 4 months;
(iii) When the USPTO fails to respond to a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) decision within 4 months; or
(iv) When the USPTO fails to issue a patent within 4 months after issue fee has been paid.

Minimum 17 Years of Patent Term
No applicant diligently seeking to obtain a patent will receive a term of less than 17 years under. The patent term may compensate for PTO delays under PTA and, in a limited sense, be adjustable to further compensation under Patent Term Extension (PTE) for pharmaceutical and other products subject to pre-market approval. Thus, the final patent term formula goes: Total Patent Term = “Standard Term” + PTA + PTE