WHAT HAPPENS IF MY PATENT IS VIOLATED?
The United States Patent and Trademark Office issues patents to applicants whose inventions meet the criteria set forth in federal law. If a patent is granted by the Patent and Trademark Office then the applicant is provided with the exclusive right to make, use or sell the invention within the United States. However, those rights which are conferred upon the applicant by the Patent and Trademark Office are not enforced by that Office. Instead, the applicant must sue the person or company who allegedly infringed upon the patent.
Patent infringement lawsuits are brought in federal court because the laws which create patents are part of the United States Code and not the law of the individual states. The plaintiff who owns the patent may request that a judge order an injunction to prevent the defendant from using the patent and may request monetary damages for any financial gain of the defendant because of the defendant’s use of the patent or for any financial loss incurred by the plaintiff because of the defendant’s use of the patent.
In order to prevail in the lawsuit, the patent holder must prove that the defendant created or sold something that was made according to the exact specifications of the patent and not something that was simply similar to the terms of the patent.
Possible Defenses in a Patent Infringement Lawsuit
Also, the patent holder must be prepared for the possible defenses that will be raised by the alleged patent infringer. First, the defendant may claim that the patent was invalid and should never have been granted by the Patent and Trademark Office. If the court accepts that argument then the court may declare the patent to be invalid. Second, the defendant may claim that its actions were not an infringement of the patent and if that argument is successful then the defendant may continue with his or her production, use or selling of the item in question.
Patents are valuable pieces of personal property. As such, patent holders have the right to protect their personal property by taking legal action against those who they allege infringed upon their property rights. Without this legal protection, a patent would be worthless since there would be no means of enforcement. Instead, the right to sue provides enforceable rights to the patent holder and promotes innovation, research and development among inventors.