ABSTRACT
It is surprising how little the statutory patent termvaried over time.During the early stages of patent systems, the inventor was granted monopoly rights for 14 years. Since apprenticeship lasted for seven years in the Middle Ages and the early Renaissance, this allowed inventors to train two apprentices successively in their trade, thereby passing on skills and knowledge. Before the Agreements of Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPs Agreement) was signed, the patent termwasonly slightly longer, i.e. 17years from the issuingdate of the patent, in theUnitedStates (US). Even then,mostEuropean countries provided for a patent protection of 20 years measured from the application date. The TRIPs Agreement has adopted a similar provision, stipulating that every signatory member has to provide for a patent protection of at least 20 years, thereby allowing for even longer patent terms.1 The patent term has to be granted indiscriminately for all technology fields.
