> We need different lengths for different patents - we shouldn't treat how rectangular a phone is the same way as a life saving drug. We don't treat them the s

> We need different lengths for different patents - we shouldn't treat how rectangular a phone is the same way as a life saving drug. We don't treat them the same. A design patent protecting an ornamental feature of a product has a term of 15 years from the date of issue. A utility patent for a useful invention has a term of 20 years from the date of application.In both cases, the rights granted are in exchange for disclosure of information and for a limited term. After the term ends, anyone is free to make full use of the design or invention and to make improvements without paying any royalties and without fear of infringing. > Instead of risky "trade secrets" a company would make the knowledge public for a short monopoly. Some inventions are suited to being kept secret (e.g., Google's search algorithms), while others are not (e.g., any product that can be reverse-engineered). Patents can protect the latter, for a limited time, where trade secret law cannot.