Markman v. Westview Instruments, Inc. (1996) and Graver Tank & Manufacturing Co. v. Linde Air Products Co. (1950) are major patent infringement cases decided by the US Supreme Court. Markman removed the jury’s responsibility for interpreting key terms in a patent, while Graver created two methods for deciding patent infringement. Inventions can be devices or processes, and obtaining a patent requires filing an application with a government patent office. The law protects the claims contained in a patent.
Major patent infringement cases include Markman v. Westview Instruments, Inc., (1996) and Graver Tank & Manufacturing Co. v. Linde Air Products Co., (1950). Prior to the Markman decision, juries had to interpret language used in a patent. After Markman, judges became responsible for deciding how to define key terms. The Graver decision created two methods for deciding whether someone is infringing on a patent. These major patent infringement cases were decided by the US Supreme Court.
To understand these important patent infringement cases, it helps to know that an invention can be a device or a process. A process is a systematic method of performing an activity. To obtain a patent, a person must file an application with a government patent office describing the invention. Descriptions of the invention are called claims. If a patent is granted, the law protects the claims contained in the patent.
The Markman case removed the jury’s responsibility for interpreting key terms to describe an invention. This is why Markman qualifies as one of the leading patent infringement cases. Because of Markman, judges are now responsible for deciding the meaning of certain terms in a patent instead of a jury. As a result, courts now conduct a Markman hearing to rule on specific terms used in a patent. The purpose of the hearing is to give each litigant the opportunity to persuade a judge to accept his definitions of key terms.
A list of major patent infringement cases would likely also include the Graver Tank decision. In Graver, the Supreme Court created two methods for deciding whether someone is infringing on a patent. For the first method, the Court explained that if two inventions do the same thing in the same way and achieve the same result, then the inventions are the same. If the inventions are the same, there is patent infringement. It doesn’t matter if the inventions have different names, shapes or forms.
In the second method, courts look at the changes a person has made to an invention. If the changes are minor or insignificant, a court is likely to find patent infringement. The Graver decision caused controversy because critics felt it extended the scope of protection beyond the original claims of a patent. However, Graver makes the list of top patent infringement cases because he has created new ways to decide if someone is infringing a patent.
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