Pittsburgh, PA - Patent Infringement Lawyer
Patent Infringement
Patent Infringement Analysis is a key process which can be performed at “The Inventors Network, Inc “
Patent Infringement Opinions are an evaluation of a patent by reference to the issued patent and all the documentation generated in obtaining the patent (the patent prosecution file) and comparing the patent with another article, method, process, or composition.
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The process of Patent infringement analysis is a time consuming process which consists of the several steps starting from procuring a copy of the infringed Patent which is generally provided by the client (or the same can be obtained from any of the sources including public libraries, commercial services, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.)
The next item is the file history of the patent, sometimes called the file wrapper. The file history is the entire written correspondence made between the applicant for the patent and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. This file history includes, at a minimum, a copy of the patent application as filed, communication from the patent examiner in charge of the application, and communication from the applicant to the patent examiner. The file history remains confidential and unavailable to the public during tendency of the application, but becomes publicly available once the patent is issued (Public PAIR).
The third main item is a copy of the prior art references cited during the prosecution of the patent application. These references are listed on the face page of the U.S. patent.
The last item is the allegedly infringing product or device itself.
Once the information is assembled, an examination is undertaken by first interpreting the scope of the claims. The claims of the patent are the numbered paragraphs appended to the description of the invention. The claims define the patentee's invention. If there are ambiguities, the description of the invention in the patent can be resorted in order to clarify the ambiguity or to further define a term found in the claim. Finally, the file history is reviewed in order to determine what the patentee intends to cover by the claims.
The scope of the claims is interpreted; each claim of the patent is compared to the allegedly infringing device.
We check for both literal infringement as well as infringement under the Doctrine of Equivalents.
The actual patent infringement opinion is contained in a letter that will have an introduction to identify the purpose of the opinion, the patent number of the allegedly infringed patent, and an identification of the allegedly infringing product. A summary of the opinion (i.e., whether the allegedly infringing product infringes the patent) is then set forth.
The main portion of the opinion follows, which includes the analysis of the claims and possibly a table for comparing the elements of the claim to the features of the allegedly infringing product. In this main portion of the opinion, both literal and equivalency infringement are discussed. References to the file history and other important items such as an expert's report may also be included. The opinion will end with a closing paragraph that restates the conclusion and may also include some limitations and disclaimers.
Thus Patent infringement determination is a two step process derivation of the meaning of the claims “by a study of all relevant patent documents” and reading of the claims on the accused device.
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