Patents enable an inventor to check unauthorized use of his or her invention by other parties for their own economic advantage in an unlawful and unauthorized manner. They give the inventor the option to sue a person or a company for infringement of his patented product or its manufacturing process. However, there are a few things that need to be considered before taking legal action against an infringement.
Firstly, you are needed to make sure that your patented invention has been replicated literally. In other words, the alleged product should have copied all aspects of your original product. It is only in exceptional cases that an infringement that is not strictly literal is treated as a genuine infringement of a patent. However, you will have to provide valid proof that the essential features of the infringing product are similar to the patented product in all elements and yield the same result as the patented product.
Secondly, you must have some legal interest in the patented commodity to be able to prosecute the offender, and you must not be a complete outsider. You can either be the owner of the patent or a licensee - exclusive or partial - of the product to be able to file a suit for violation. You also have to consider the law of limitation of the state and take legal action within the time stipulated for such suits, as otherwise the claim would be considered as expired.
Although you can take legal action against not only the manufacturer of the counterfeit product but also against the user of the product, any such action can be taken only while the patent lasts. After the expiry of the patent, no use of the product can be alleged as an infringement against the patent.
Regardless of the strict liability principle that is applicable to patents, the use of a patented product for research work does not qualify as an infringement under the patent laws for most countries.
Firstly, you are needed to make sure that your patented invention has been replicated literally. In other words, the alleged product should have copied all aspects of your original product. It is only in exceptional cases that an infringement that is not strictly literal is treated as a genuine infringement of a patent. However, you will have to provide valid proof that the essential features of the infringing product are similar to the patented product in all elements and yield the same result as the patented product.
Secondly, you must have some legal interest in the patented commodity to be able to prosecute the offender, and you must not be a complete outsider. You can either be the owner of the patent or a licensee - exclusive or partial - of the product to be able to file a suit for violation. You also have to consider the law of limitation of the state and take legal action within the time stipulated for such suits, as otherwise the claim would be considered as expired.
Although you can take legal action against not only the manufacturer of the counterfeit product but also against the user of the product, any such action can be taken only while the patent lasts. After the expiry of the patent, no use of the product can be alleged as an infringement against the patent.
Regardless of the strict liability principle that is applicable to patents, the use of a patented product for research work does not qualify as an infringement under the patent laws for most countries.
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