How to use the utility patent term calculator
The United States has no utility model right, so there is no ten-year second-tier registration to calculate. Inventors looking for the cheap, fast, short protection that a Korean or German utility model offers usually reach for two other tools instead: a provisional application, which holds a filing date for twelve months, and a design patent when the value sits in appearance. For the invention itself, the route is an ordinary utility patent, and this calculator maps its dates.
How the dates are counted — every figure is measured in whole months or years from a single starting date and lands on the matching calendar day, with the last day of the month used when that day does not exist. The same rule is applied to the provisional deadline, the term end and each maintenance window, so the lines stay consistent. Deadlines shown rolled to the next business day follow the weekend rule in 37 C.F.R. 1.7.
Legal basis — a provisional application gives 12 months to file a nonprovisional claiming its benefit (35 U.S.C. 111(b)(5) and 119(e)) and never itself becomes a patent. A utility patent term runs 20 years from the earliest nonprovisional filing date (35 U.S.C. 154(a)(2)), subject to term adjustment and extension rules. Maintenance fees fall due at 3.5, 7.5 and 11.5 years from grant, with a six-month grace period (37 C.F.R. 1.362). Figures are current as of September 2026.
This calculator is for reference only and is not legal advice. Consult a registered patent attorney about your specific situation.
Frequently asked questions
No. A provisional is never examined and never becomes an enforceable right; it only preserves a filing date for twelve months. A utility model in countries that have one is a registered right you can enforce.
There is no US counterpart to convert into, but a utility model filing can support a priority claim for a US utility patent application under the Paris Convention. Timing is strict, so check with a patent attorney early.