Patent Lawyer Melbourne, FL
If you own a patent, you know that it protects you from other parties profiting from your intellectual property. A patent legally forbids anyone from producing, selling, offering to sell, or using the invention without your specific authorization.
However, as a patent lawyer in Melbourne, Florida from the Law Offices of Arcadier, Biggie & Wood can attest, a patent does not always stop someone from infringing on a patent. If you discover that a competitor is infringing on your patent, you can take legal actions against that party, including filing an injunction to get them to stop and for financial damages.
Contact the Law Offices of Arcadier, Biggie & Wood today and meet with a Melbourne FL patent lawyer if you suspect patent infringement. In the meantime, the following is a brief overview of how these cases work.
What Is the Legal Definition of Patent Infringement?
There are a few different ways that patent infringement can occur, including:
Direct Infringement: This is when a single party services or product meets all the limitations outlined in U.S.C. § 271, the federal statute that addresses patent infringement. It is not necessary for the party who is committing the infringement to be aware of the existing patent in order to be held liable for their actions.
Indirect Infringement: This is when there is more than one party who is involved in the action of infringement. There are two types of indirect infringement:
· Contributory Infringement: The party knowingly provides a component that assists the other infringing party to directly infringe the patent. The component that they provided must not have any significant non-infringing use to qualify.
· Induced Infringement: The party is aware of the patent, yet still helps the other infringing party directly infringes the patent.
How Is Infringement Proven?
In order to prove infringement has occurred, a patent lawyer in Melbourne, FL must prove three elements in any legal action:
· The party filing the action owns a valid patent.
· The party accused of infringing has participated in an act of infringement.
· The product or service used in the act of infringement has all the features of at least one claim.
A Melbourne FL patent lawyer will prove ownership of the patent through a written assignment. However, issues can arise if the written assignment was not correctly executed during the original patent process. Having a patent lawyer assist you in the original application can help avoid any questions of patent ownership should an infringement issue later arise.
A party accused of infringing a patent will likely to all they can to try and prove that the patent is invalid. One of the most common reasons for challenging a patent is the claim that the original patent application lacked a written description of the product. Another common reason cited is that the patent lacked in novelty. In other words, that there were pre-existing products more than one year prior to the original patent application.
For more information on patent infringement, or any other intellectual property questions, contact the Law Offices of Arcadier, Biggie & Wood to schedule a consultation with a skilled patent lawyer Melbourne, FL clients recommend today.
