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).
THE ORGANISM: First, read the General Traits found in all Viruses at the beginning of the virus section. Herpes viruses are constructed with an outer envelope made from the host cells' own membranes, with viral proteins added. These viruses contain DNA.