Method claims have just become more valuable. The reason is that the Federal Circuit has broadened its scope of protection. Background information Under prior patent law, infringement of a method claim could be found through either direct infringement or indirect infringement. Direct infringement of a method claim occurs when a single actor (i.e., person or entity) performs … [Read more...]
Indirect infringement
Indirect infringement of a patent occurs when an entity induces another to directly infringe a patent or contributes to the direct infringement of another. 35 U.S.C. §§271(b) and (c).
Browse related articles below.
Willful blindness sufficient for active inducement of infringement
Infringement may be direct or indirect. In direct infringement, a person makes, uses, sells, offers for sale, or imports the patented product or practices the patented method. In indirect infringement, the person induces another to infringe (i.e., active inducement of infringement) or contributes to the infringement by another. In Global Tech. v. Pentalfa, the narrow issue … [Read more...]
Specific Intent Required for Active Inducement of Patent Infringement
Liability for patent infringement can be either direct or indirect. In cases of direct infringement, the defendant makes, uses, sells, offers for sale, or imports a product that directly infringes a patent. For indirect infringement, the defendant may be assisting another party in directly infringing a patent. Indirect infringement includes inducing infringement or contributory … [Read more...]
Component-Level Analysis for Contributory Patent Infringement Liability
In Ricoh Company, Ltd. v. Quanta Computer, Inc., 2007-1567 (Fed. Cir. 2008), the Federal Circuit addressed the scope of contributory patent infringement under 35 U.S.C. § 271(c). Quanta sold computer drives containing multiple components, one of which was specially designed to infringe Ricoh’s patent. Although the computer drive as a whole did not directly infringe the patent, … [Read more...]