Patent Infringement: The Legalities of Patent Claims and How to Avoid Them
If you’ve ever experienced an intellectual property conflict, you know how frustrating the legal process can be. You’re never quite sure where to start or who to approach. And even if you get in touch with the right people, there’s no guarantee that things will go your way. To get started, check out this article about the legalities of patent claims and how to diminish your chances of having one made against you.
- What is a patent claim?
A patent claim is a single sentence in a patent describing the specific features of an invention. The claim is deemed the most important part of the patent. The claims are the only part of the patent that is examined by the patent office to determine if an invention is novel and non-obvious. The patent office only examines the claims of the patent and not the entire patent. These claims are subject to very strict authentication requirements. In particular, the claims have to be “specific, short, and not confusingly similar” claims. Specific claims need to speak only of the features of an invention vs. all of the features of an invention.
A broad claim or a phrase like “method of performing method, system, concept, or device,” for example, would not be considered “specific, short, and not confusingly similar” or even “broad” in the context of a patent.
Plain and simple, if a claim is too broad, it doesn’t matter what keywords are used to describe the claim. For example, there is no distinction as to whether Patrisha claims that her method of performing method, system, concept, or device works for sending faxes or for receiving fax messages. Whether or not she specifically refers to faxes or emails, for example, affects the scope of the patent. Thus, it is very important to ensure that only specific claims are used. Also, it is important to provide viable methods that are focused on a particular area of technology.
Novelty and Non-Obviousness: What Are the Requirements?
Patents are designed to foster innovation. Therefore it is very important for inventions in popular, relevant fields to be patentable. Common relevant fields include information technology, computer science, biochemistry, and medicine. Usually, the novelty requirement is satisfied by five features:
The claimed invention must be novel;
The claimed invention must be non-obvious before search engines;
The claimed invention must be the “best form exemplified and generally known” by the applicant; and
The claimed invention must be capable of technological execution with reasonable precautions.
2. What does a patent claim do?
A patent claim is a crucial part of a patent application and is a clear and concise statement of what your invention is and what it does. A claim is typically a few sentences long and is the most important part of your patent application because it defines what your invention is and what it does. Your claim must have a legal basis, which tells a judge whether your claim is useful before he will consider it legally valid. As Silvio Mazzarello from Legal Monday explained, “A patent claim is an expression of your inventive idea and the specification that backs up that idea. It is a legal dictate that tells the judge whether you are entitled to priority of use in a particular field.”
A lawsuit over a patent claim is a terrible idea for everyone involved — especially you. When you file your patent application, you give up most of the control over how the world will use your invention. When someone infringes your patent, you have no say over what they do with that idea, and they are free to go ahead and use whatever idea they want. Thus, having a patent dispute amongst yourself often leads to an endless cycle where the parties hash out the exact details of how their patents conflict, until one or both parties give up and enter a compromise. Everyone wants to avoid conflict, but you’re going to win the lawsuit anyway, so make sure you don’t give up control of what your idea is in the process of filing.
3. Why should I care about patent claims?
You should care about patent claims because they’re a crucial part of your legal protection. A patent claim defines the scope of what your invention is, and if you’re accused of infringing someone else’s patent, your patent claim will help you determine whether or not you have a case. If a patent troll sues you for infringing another company’s patents, the bar will hold a hearing to determine if your conduct constituted patent infringement. If you win, you’re off on the right foot. (It’s only when you lose that you’re on the wrong foot).
You can claim patent infringement if a patent holder sues you for infringing on their patent. According to the search engine scene, the patented subject matter includes software, computer hardware, and databases. They don’t have to be related to your business, and they don’t have to be invented by you.
The key to winning a lawsuit over patent infringement is to show that you did not infringe the infringer. Thus, to win, you must show the infringer infringed on at least one of your claimed patents, then prove that you had no right to the infringement. The infringement must be so extensive that it would be impossible for another company, even with clever tactics, to have gotten the same result. Obviously, if the infringement didn’t affect you much, but you were affected, you can still win.00
2. What is the legal process to register a patent?
Myron E. Kotcher, a lawyer in Tennessee and fellow of the American Society of Lawyers, said that you should register a patent once it’s been used, and “it’s unlikely that any part of [it] is now invalid.” To get a patent approved for registration, a patent application (PRO) must contain specific claims and a claimed invention. Each claimed invention is described, and the aims of the proposed invention are explained. If the claimed inventions are sound, the application (PRO) is returned to the inventor/getter and a patent application for the form of the claimed invention must be prepared.
4. How can I avoid being the target of a claim?
To avoid being the target of a claim, you need to protect yourself. The best way to do that is to document your work. You can’t always anticipate what will happen, but you can prepare for the worst. Documenting your work means taking pictures of your work, saving your emails, and saving your contracts and agreements with clients. Your legal definition of “copyright infringement” will vary, but the following are commonly accepted standards. If you operate in one of these scenarios (or if you’re wondering whether it’s worth your while to do business with a particular client), you need to know the legal definition of copyright infringement so you can protect yourself.
2. Can you read my contract? No. This might seem like a rare concern, but it’s not uncommon at all. When you sign a contract to do business with a client, you’re mostly signing permission to do business. A problem is, the agreement may require you to give notice.
3. What is “notice of copyright infringement”?
Notice of copyright infringement is a specific way to tell someone that they’re infringing your copyright — and why. Without proper notice to the owner or holder of the copyright, someone who is not authorized to make sure the owner controls the process can claim copyright. Notice-of-copyright-injury claims are common, especially where an infringer misuses the law by deliberately omitting to provide the copyright holder with adequate notice.
4. You don’t have notice of copyright. No response. If you don’t receive any kind of notice (“notice of copyright”) after performing your work, you need to have the infringer satisfactorily register their copyright with the copyright office. If they haven’t already, they will reinstate their claim. If your client actually registers their copyright as required by law, there’s nothing else you can do. If your client should have registered their copyright but didn’t, your only recourse is to ask the infringer to provide you with “notice of copyright infringement.”
5. How can I respond to a claim if it’s been made against me?
If someone has made a claim against you, you can respond in two ways: 1) you can dispute the claim, and 2) you can admit the responsibility and show how you’re going to fix the issue. However, before you do anything, you need to get all the facts and think about how you’re going to respond. It’s really a trick to get things out of your system as quickly as you can, but you should try to arrange for a canonical DNS server (e.g., get the original document or file copied, then move it to a new location for later retrieval, such as a new domain name). For this article, you’ll assume you’ve received a subpoena and have spent some effort gathering the facts.
