What is the patent term for utility and plant patents?

The patent term for utility and plant patents is 20 years, determined from the filing date of the nonprovisional application. This means that once a nonprovisional application is filed, the patent holder is granted exclusive rights to the invention for a period of 20 years. This duration is designed to provide an adequate incentive for innovation, allowing inventors to potentially profit from their inventions while ensuring that the public eventually gains access to the ideas protected by the patent.

Utility and plant patents share this 20-year term, emphasizing the standardization in patent law that applies to different categories of patents. It's important to note that this term can be subject to adjustments under certain circumstances, like patent term extensions due to regulatory delays, but the baseline is still 20 years from the filing date of the application. This regulation is in accordance with the United States Code Title 35, which governs patent law in the U.S.