Patent Infringement

The USPTO defines patent infringement as “unauthorized making, using, offering to sell, selling or importing into the United States of any patented invention.” 

When you have a patent, enforcing your patent rights is up to you.  There is no “patent police force” who will swoop in and save you from an infringer.  You have use the civil court to seek restitution.

When you believe someone is infringing on your patent, you have the ability to sue for lost revenue.  It can be a difficult prove patent infringement in court, and litigation is, of course, very expensive.  Also, the most common defense in a patent infringement case is to challenge the validity of the infringed patent.  Very often, this works, and the patent is invalidated.

Another option outside of litigation is to secure a licensing agreement with the infringer. Infringers are often willing to pay licensing in order to keep their businesses in tact.

Patents Infringement Abroad

If you have a patent in the US and someone in another country is copying your invention, you do not have grounds to stop the copying — unless you also have a patent in the country where the copying is occurring.

Getting patents in other countries can be expensive — ludicrously expensive, in fact.  For more information about the process, see our PCT page.