Patent litigation occurs when a patent owner asserts their rights against someone making or selling the invention without permission. The US follows “first to invent” rule, while other countries follow “first filing.” A patent can be declared invalid if it’s not new, different, or obvious. If the patent is not declared invalid, the court can issue an injunction or mediate an agreement between parties. Repairs and non-patented parts are not considered patent infringement.
Patent litigation occurs when a person who owns the rights to a patent asserts his patent rights against someone else who is making or selling the invention without the permission of the person who owns the patent. This type of patent litigation is called a patent infringement lawsuit. In most cases, when one person decides to sue the rights of a patent, the other counter-suit, claiming that the patent is invalid.
In the United States, a patent litigation case can go before a jury; however, only the judge is able to interpret the various patent claims. The United States is the only country to follow the “first to invent” rule, meaning that the first person who invents the device is the owner of the patent. All other countries follow a “first filing” rule, meaning that the first person to file a patent application is the owner of the patent.
There are several ways a patent can be declared invalid. For example, if it was not new or different from all previous products, methods or devices, the patent can be declared invalid. Patent litigation can occur if the patented feature or method was described in a published document or was used by the public for more than a year prior to filing the application.
A patent must be non-obvious or surprising. In other words, it should not be expected. Initially, a patent examiner will determine whether the patent is not obvious by examining all prior related patents that existed prior to the date of the invention. In the course of patent litigation, if the question of obviousness is raised, the court must examine the documentation to see if it was not obvious from the date of the invention. Next, each party will bring an expert to court to prove whether it was really obvious.
If the patent is not declared invalid after patent litigation occurs, the court can do one of two things. The first option is to issue a court order called an injunction. The injunction will prevent the person infringing or stealing the patent from ever again using or selling the patented item or method. Furthermore, compensation may be awarded to the legitimate patent holder. If the infringement was found to be intentional, the court can award the rightful patent owner three times the actual damages, plus any legal costs incurred.
The court can also mediate between the two parties until they reach a written agreement. In most cases, the agreement will allow the infringing party to use the product, but the infringer will pay a royalty or usage fee to the rightful owner. This takes time and often goes to a broker first.
It is not considered patent infringement if a patented device is repaired or if non-patented parts of the device are replaced. For example, one particular company owned a patent for a mechanical device used for a car’s convertible top, but there was no patent for the convertible top fabric. Under the repair doctrine, the court ruled that selling the fabric to customers who bought the patented convertible top did not constitute patent infringement.
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