Can the patent right be mortgaged?
After the patent is granted, the rights enjoyed by the patentee according to law include the personal rights of the patent and the property rights of the patent. As an intangible asset, patent right has economic value. The patentee can sell, donate or mortgage the patent right, or invest the patent right in shares at a fixed price, so as to obtain corresponding economic benefits. Therefore, the patent right can be mortgaged. Patent pledge loan refers to a new loan business that enterprises, economic organizations and individual industrial and commercial households with independent legal personality approved by the administrative department for industry and commerce pledge the property rights of invention patents, utility model patents and design patents granted by China National Intellectual Property Administration according to law, obtain a certain amount of RMB loans from banks, and repay the principal and interest of the loans on schedule. However, because of its inherent characteristics of concealment, timeliness, regionality and legal authorization, patent right has increased the unstable factors affecting patent pledge loans. First of all, the patent right is a typical intangible property, which is a kind of information. Therefore, the establishment of patent pledge does not need to transfer the possession of the pledge, which increases the risk of patent pledge loan to some extent. Secondly, after the patent is granted, there may be the risk of being declared invalid, and there may also be the risk of patent termination due to the failure to pay the annual patent fee or the expiration of the patent right. Thirdly, the object of patent pledge is the property right of invention patent, utility model patent or design patent, among which the object of patent pledge is mostly invention patent, while the object of invention patent is essentially a profound technical scheme, and the value of its patent right is difficult to evaluate. Finally, patent pledge is a priority. If the pledgee of the patent right fails to pay off the bank loan within the time limit, the bank may realize the patent right and give priority to compensation with the proceeds. However, the patent right requires high technology and equipment, and it is still difficult to realize the pledge right. Sometimes, due to the lack of patent trading market, the pledged patent rights may even be worthless, which seriously endangers the loan interests of lending banks and may even lead to the inability of banks to recover their loans. Patent right is an exclusive right, unless it is authorized to be used by others, it will constitute an infringement of patent right, and the actor needs to bear corresponding responsibilities at this time. Often, the protection of patent rights also has a certain period of time. The longest protection period for inventions is 20 years, while the longest protection period for utility models and designs is only 10 year. However, it should be noted that the protection period of the patent right is calculated from the date of application, not from the date of granting the patent right.