Patent protection for design patents only lasts for 14 years after the patent is granted, so they offer six years less protection than other patent types. Unlike plant and utility patents, however, no maintenance fee is required to keep a design patent active.
A virus is a small, infectious agent that is made up of a core of genetic material surrounded by a shell of protein. The genetic material (which is responsible for carrying forward hereditary traits from parent cells to offspring) may be either deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or ribonucleic acid (RNA).
Virus-like particles resemble viruses, but are non-infectious because they do not contain any viral genetic material.The expression of viral structural proteins, such as Envelope or Capsid, can result in the self-assembly of virus like particles (VLPs).VLPs derived from the Hepatitis B virus and composed of the small HBV derived surface antigen (HBsAg) were described over 40 years ago from patient sera.irus-like particles resemble viruses, but are non-infectious because they do not contain any viral genetic material.