This is not a substitute for legal advice. An attorney must be consulted. "This work is protected under the copyright laws of the United States. No reproduction, use, or disclosure of this work shall be permitted without the prior express written authorization of the copyright owner. Copyright © 1994 - 2024 by LAWCHEK, LTD." |
What are the benefits of patent protection? |
The benefits of patent
protection include the right to exclude others, the right to
mark products, the right to advertise about patent coverage,
and the potential sale or licensing of the patent rights.
Exclusive
rights. A patent grants the owner the
exclusive right to make, use, sell, offer for sale, or
import (any of these acts are referred to as "practicing")
the invention in the United States during the term of the
patent. 35 U.S.C. § 271. An
"exclusive right" is the right to stop someone else by
bringing a lawsuit against them. A patent does not make
it legal for the owner to practice the invention. If
the invention infringes another patent or is otherwise
illegal, practicing the invention by the owner may well be
unlawful. The patent merely gives the right to
stop others. To enforce this right, the patent
owner may have to sue alleged infringers in federal court.
Patent marking. After
a U.S. patent application is filed, products described in
the application can be marked with "patent pending" or a
similar notation. The "patent pending" marking
can provide a significant commercial advantage, because
competitors do not know what is covered by patent protection
until the patent issues. After a patent
issues, products covered by the patent may be marked with
the word "patent" or "pat." together with the number of the
patent. 35 U.S.C. §287. The
inclusion of this patent marking on a product informs the
public of the patent status of items in commerce. This
marking is also notice to potential infringers that a
product is covered by the patent. If a product
is not properly marked, then patent
infringement damages can only be collected for acts
occurring after the infringer is placed on actual notice of
the infringement.
Advertising. A
patent owner can advertise that a product is the subject of
a pending or issued patent, provided such advertising is
truthful. Advertising about patent protection
may generate customer goodwill associated with a more
sophisticated unique product. Potential sale or licensing. A patent is a discrete asset which can be valued, used as collateral, licensed or sold. A patentee can transfer some or all of the rights under the patent. For instance, patents can be used as collateral or to increase investor confidence to obtain financing for a business. Sale of a business with significant patent rights is likely to bring about a higher sales price. Also, patent rights may provide useful leverage to work out cross-licensing agreements with competitors. Patent rights can also help a business in other ways. For example, owning patent rights in a product is often important in finding companies to help manufacture and/or market the product on a wider scale than could be accomplished by the patentee alone. |
Copyright © 1994 - 2024 by LAWCHEK, LTD.
This is not a substitute for legal advice. An attorney must be consulted.
This site produced and powered by enlighten
technologies incorporated.
COPYRIGHT © 1994 - 2015 enlighten technologies incorporated