Patents enable an inventor to prevent unlawful use of his or her invention by others for their own economic advantage in an illegal and unauthorized manner. They allow the inventor to sue a person or company for trying to make such illegal use of the original invention or its process. However, you must keep certain things in mind when going for a legal action to deal with the problem of infringement.
Firstly, you are required to make sure that your patented product has been replicated literally. This is to say that your original product should have been copied in all its aspects including the apparently minor ones. In certain cases even if not all these aspects have been imitated by the alleged offender, the patent can still be considered to have been infringed. However, this needs evidence to the effect that there are substantial similarities and that the end result that the infringing product creates is notably similar to the original product.
Secondly, you should have some direct connection with the patented product to be able to sue the infringer, and you must not be a complete outsider. You can either be the owner of the patented product or a licensee – exclusive or partial – of the product in order to be eligible for filing a suit for violation. You also need to consider the law of limitation of the jurisdiction and file a suit within the time stipulated for such cases, as otherwise the claim would be considered as expired.
Although you can take legal action against not only the manufacturer of the infringing product but also against the user of the product, any such step can be taken only while the patent lasts. Once the period of patent has expired, no legal action can be taken against any infringement.
Last but not the least, though patents are based upon the principle of strict liability, you must remember that the usage of a patent for research purposes is allowed and it does not constitute an infringement.
Discover more about trademarks and learn how does an patents protection increase the net worth of your business very fast.