Infringement

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Infringement

The encroachment, breach, or violation of a right, law, regulation, or contract.

The term is most frequently used in reference to the invasion of rights secured by Copyright, patent, or trademark. The unauthorized manufacture, sale, or distribution of an item protected by a copyright, patent, or trademark constitutes an infringement.

infringement

n. 1) a trespassing or illegal entering. 2) in the law of patents (protected inventions), and copyrights (protected writings or graphics), the improper use of a patent, writing, graphic or trademark without permission, without notice, and especially without contracting for payment of a royalty. Even though the infringement may be accidental (an inventor thinks he is the first to develop the widget although someone else has a patent), the party infringing is responsible to pay the original patent or copyright owner substantial damages, which can be the normal royalty or as much as the infringers' accumulated gross profits. (See: patent infringement, patent, copyright, trademark, plagiarism, royalty)

References in periodicals archive ?

Generally speaking, courts in patent infringement actions generally look to all the relevant circumstances to determine whether a party, upon actual notice of a patent, took adequate steps so as not to recklessly disregard the rights of the patent holder.

Supreme Court and changes to federal law have relaxed the requirement of obtaining a legal opinion of non-infringement to avoid a finding of willful infringement.

That being said, it is still good practice in most circumstances to seek the opinion of patent counsel if a potentially viable claim of patent infringement is received.

Indeed, many courts have found willful infringement even when a business had relied upon an opinion of non-infringement given by its in-house engineers or by attorneys not skilled in patent infringement law.

On the other hand, if a business had received competent legal advice from patent counsel that it was not infringing the patent, it likely has a legitimate defense against a claim of willful infringement even if a judge or jury determines that the business had indeed been infringing the patent.

In sum, it is critical that businesses accused of patent infringement take the charge seriously and obtain the opinion of competent legal counsel as to whether they are infringing the patent at issue.

What to do when accused of patent infringement: Steps to take if a cease-and-desist letter arrives in the mail

In addition to the Federal Court of Australia, Motorola Solutions' patent infringement, copyright infringement and trade secret theft lawsuits against Hytera are still pending in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Motorola Solutions files copyright infringement proceedings in Australia

I argue that some of the patent infringement doctrines that allow for

Like the bounded scope of patent protection, infringement liability

Infringement determinations naturally focus on the acts or products of

determine what competing product features constitute infringement. (13)

The basic inquiry in an infringement determination requires analysis of

INFRINGEMENT, UNBOUND

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