We started out with three each of three different types of plants: one member of each set was given water that had been boiled on a gas stove, water that had been boiled in a microwave oven, or water that had not been boiled at all.
Drug patent protection: How long is long enough? A recent Senate committee hearing on Bill S-17, Parliament's effort to comply with international trade rules by extending pharmaceutical patent protection to 20 years, inadvertently opened the door to a broader investigation of the inner workings of the country's pharmaceutical patent legislation.
As long as the applicant pays the applicable maintenance fees, the exclusive right for utility and plant patents lasts for a term of 20 years from the application date. The exclusive rights granted for a design patent lasts for 14 years from the date of the grant. Different Types of Patents. There are three types of patents: utility, design, and plant. 1  Utility patent definition: Granted for new, nonobvious, and useful inventions for processes, machines, manufactures, composition of matter, or if the invention makes an improvement on a previous invention.