Thinking About an Invention Patent application, which is the equivalent of a typical license available in nations or regions such as the UK, Europe or the United States, typically takes around 3 to 6 years to grant, give of a Utility Model can be acquired fairly promptly, generally in between 10 to 18 months. Filing such applications in China has actually been a faster, less costly and less complicated means to obtain license security for a creation, compared to an Invention Patent.