Plaintiffs conduct entitles it to damages and all other remedies at law.
Plaintiffs conduct entitles it to damages and all other remedies at law.
Getting Started in Litigation Your attorney will file a formal complaint in federal court, explaining how the defendant has infringed on your patent. Together with your attorney, you will need to compile evidence of your ownership of the patent and the infringement.
A U.S. patent holder can block importation and sale of an infringing machine, manufacture or composition of matter in the U.S. and can sue for damages. Suit can be brought against foreign companies in U.S. federal court, so long as the patent holder can serve the infringer.
Your counsel should be a Registered Patent Attorney. Many attorneys who handle patent cases are not Registered Patent Attorneys. Registered Patent Attorneys have science and engineering degrees and have been admitted to the Patent Bar in addition to their State Bar.
A copyright owner can sue in civil court, seeking an injunction to prohibit the defendant's further unauthorized use of copyrighted materials, as well as to recover damages. The U.S. Department of Justice can also make the case for criminal copyright infringement under specific conditions (see below).
A patent holder must sue the unauthorized party in federal district court. The patent holder can sue in any federal court where the infringed product is found. Patent lawsuits are time-consuming. Depending on where you live, these suits can take years to get to trial.
Patents are country-specific and are rights limited to the borders of the issuing country.
Patent infringement is not a crime. Instead, patent rights are enforced through civil litigation. Next, the court will look at whether a particular device literally infringes the claim. The elements of each of the patent's claims will be compared with the invention that is claimed to be infringing.
Since the rights granted by a U.S. patent extend only throughout the territory of the United States and have no effect in a foreign country, an inventor who wishes patent protection in other countries must apply for a patent in each of the other countries or in regional patent offices.
Polaroid took Kodak to court in 1976, accusing it of infringing on 12 patents relating to instant photography. The pioneering instant camera and film company, now defunct, sought $12 billion in damages, a staggering sum even by today's standards.