Legal Definitions - patent-term adjustment

Patent-term adjustment is a mandatory extension of the time a utility or plant patent remains valid due to delays in the application process. This extension is available for new applications, continuation applications, and divisional applications filed since May 29, 2000. It is abbreviated as PTA.

Suppose a patent application was filed on January 1, 2010, and it took the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) three years to grant the patent. In this case, the patent-term adjustment would add three years to the patent's expiration date, giving the patent holder more time to profit from their invention.

Another example is if the USPTO takes longer than three years to grant a patent, the patent-term adjustment will add one day to the patent's expiration date for each day beyond the three-year mark.

These examples illustrate how patent-term adjustment works and how it benefits patent holders by extending the life of their patents.