Company: APM
Filing Date: 2025-04-30
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0001213900-25-037669
Chunk: 126

Company: Aptorum Group Ltd
Filing Date: 2025-04-30
Form: 20-F
Item: Item 4
Chunk 126
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 examined by the USPTO, and can mature into a patent once the USPTO determines that the claimed invention meets the standards for patentability.
On the other hand, a provisional patent application is not examined for patentability, and automatically expires 12 months after its filing
date. As a result, a provisional patent application cannot mature into a patent.

Provisional applications are
often used, among other things, to establish an earlier filing date for a subsequent non-provisional patent application. The term of individual
patents depends upon the legal term of the patents in the countries in which they are obtained.

The effective filing date
of a non-provisional patent application is used by the USPTO to determine what information is prior art when it considers the patentability
of a claimed invention. If certain requirements are satisfied, a non-provisional patent application can claim the benefit of the filing
date of an earlier filed provisional patent application. As a result, the filing date accorded by the provisional patent application may
supersede information that otherwise could preclude the patentability of an invention.

A provisional patent application
is not eligible to become an issued patent unless, among other things, we file a non-provisional patent application within 12 months of
the filing date of the provisional patent application. If we do not timely file a non-provisional patent application claiming priority
to said provisional application, we may lose our priority date with respect to our provisional patent applications. Further, if any (self
or by others) publication of the invention is made after such priority date, and if we do not file a non-provisional application claiming
priority to said provisional application, our invention may become unpatentable.

Moreover, we cannot predict
whether such future patent applications will result in the issuance of patents that effectively protect any of our product candidates
or will effectively prevent others from commercializing competitive products.

We do not expect to incur
material expenses in the prosecution of the provisional applications or other licensed patent applications. We expect to fund the patent
costs from our cash and cash equivalents.

The value of our drug products
will depend significantly on our ability to obtain and maintain patent and other proprietary protection for those products, preserve the
confidentiality of our trade secrets and operate without infringing the valid and enforceable patents and proprietary rights of other
parties.

As of the date hereof, we
are the patentee of a number of provisional and non-provisional patent applications