Double Trouble For Double Patenting Or When Does My Patent Expire?

The Federal Circuit recently clarified the interplay between obvious-type double patenting (ODP) and patent term adjustments (PTA) granted pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 154(b). In In re Cellect, the Federal Circuit explained that ODP is considered after any PTA is applied, which could cause patents with terms that have been adjusted to be susceptible to an ODP challenge when they otherwise would not have been.

A patent filed today will generally expire 20 years from the patent's filing date or the earliest date from which it claims priority. For example, a patent filed on January 1, 2015, will, absent any extensions or adjustments, expire on January 1, 2035, regardless of how long it took to issue. If the inventor files a continuation application in order to claim variations of the invention disclosed in the original patent and claims priority to his original patent filed on January 1, 2015, the patent issued on the continuation application will also, absent any