应该是 patent term, 不知道为什么作者写 patent-pending term.

2701 Patent Term [R-07.2022]
For applications filed on or after June 8, 1995, Section 532(a)(1) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (Public Law 103-465, 108 Stat. 4809 (1994)) amended 35 U.S.C. 154 to provide that the term of a patent (other than a design patent) begins on the date the patent issues and ends on the date that is twenty years from the date on which the application for the patent was filed in the United States, ...
https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/s2701.html#:~:tex...

Term of patent
The term of a patent is the maximum time during which it can be maintained in force. It is usually expressed in a number of years either starting from the filing date of the patent application or from the date of grant of the patent.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Term_of_patent