Upon obtaining a U.S. patent, you have rights to protect and defend the claimed invention against others. Anyone who, during the term of your U.S. patent, without authorization makes, uses, sells, or imports the patented invention into the territory of the United States commits patent infringement and thereby violates your rights. The scope of patent infringement is determined by the claims in the issued patent. Often, a patent is issued with multiple claims. It is enough that only one patent claim is infringed to infringe the entire patent.

If a U.S. patent is infringed, the patent owner can sue in a federal court of competent jurisdiction. In this infringement action, the claimant can ask the court to award damages. A patent owner also has the option of asking the court for a preliminary injunction to prevent the other party’s ongoing patent infringement. In such proceedings, however, the defendant often challenges the validity of the patent. As such a plaintiff may himself as a defendant in the same action – as a consequence of a counterclaim by the alleged infringer. In addition, a defendant may also argue that its actions do not constitute patent infringement. All of these questions are answered in the first instance by a U.S. district court. The decision of the district court can be appealed to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the highest patent court in the U.S.A. In case, either litigant does not accept the outcome at the Federal Circuit and wants to pursue this litigation further, the U.S. Supreme Court could be the final decision maker. However, the U.S. Supreme Court may decline to accept the matter.

The question of whether patent infringement has actually occurred is determined by comparing the patent claims to the allegedly infringing method or product: If what you, the plaintiff, allege falls within the interpretation of one of the patent claims, and the patent remains valid, there is patent infringement.

No matter which side you are on – as a U.S. patent owner who believes his U.S. patent rights have been infringed, or as someone who has been accused of patent infringement in the U.S., please contact us. RUPPERT U.S. IP GmbH will expertly inform you of your rights and represent you in enforcing them. To do this, we will build a team of experienced U.S. attorneys, experts and support staff. – tailored to the specifics of the case.

See a listing of U.S. Patent Litigation matters in which Dr. Ruppert has been involved.