Infringement (Patent)
What does "Infringement (Patent)" mean in law?
Patent infringement occurs when a person or entity makes, uses, sells, offers to sell, or imports into the United States a patented invention without the patent holder's authorization, as governed by 35 U.S.C. section 271. Infringement analysis requires comparing each element of the patent claims to the accused product or process; literal infringement exists when every claim limitation is met, while the doctrine of equivalents extends liability to devices performing substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve the same result. In Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics (2012), Apple successfully argued that Samsung's smartphones infringed several of its design and utility patents, leading to a landmark damages verdict.
Definition
Patent infringement occurs when a person or entity makes, uses, sells, offers to sell, or imports into the United States a patented invention without the patent holder's authorization, as governed by 35 U.S.C. section 271. Infringement analysis requires comparing each element of the patent claims to the accused product or process; literal infringement exists when every claim limitation is met, while the doctrine of equivalents extends liability to devices performing substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve the same result. In Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics (2012), Apple successfully argued that Samsung's smartphones infringed several of its design and utility patents, leading to a landmark damages verdict.
Example
A generic drug manufacturer that produces a pharmaceutical compound covered by an active patent commits patent infringement even if it independently developed the same formula.