Patent War: Enterprises focusing on safeguarding patents
By Renjith VP, SiliconIndia   |   Tuesday, 09 November 2010, 14:34 IST
Printer Print Email Email
Patent War: Enterprises focusing on safeguarding patents
Bangalore: Technology is undoubtedly on the rise each single day and so is the number of law suits piled upon infringement of technology product patents that get fabricated every now and then. With a 'no-end' list of patent wars shaping up, enterprises should now get outfitted to answer the question - How effectively can a patent be safeguarded and infringement prevented? Technology firms which bank huge amounts for R&D and cramp their labs with researchers to fabricate complex technologies often find it frustrating when its competitor firm comes out with some product which uses a similar patent. This is followed by frequent lawsuits (one may even wonder whether these firms manage to run a huge wing which devotes itself to follow up with the various patent infringement lawsuits) and a patent war shapes up amidst the rivals. Patent wars in the Smartphone market have been in news all the while with Apple and Motorola suing each other on a daily basis and their lawsuits entering a new phase each day. Following Motorola's filing lawsuit against Apple for infringing up to 18 Motorola owned patents in iPhone, iPod touch, Macs, MobileMe and the App Store, Apple has recently filed two different lawsuits in Wisconsin Western District Court against Motorola for infringing multi-touch related patents reported Patently Apple. Technology brands like Microsoft, HTC, Oracle, RIM, LG Group, Apple, Sony Ericsson, Nokia and an endless list to follow have been active participants in the vicious circle of patent wars. However many patent infringements are not deliberate. In many occasions it happens due to the ignorance or by a mistake from employees. Now what's the real deal? When patent infringement happens, the patentee may sue for relief in the appropriate Federal court. The patentee may ask the court for an injunction to prevent the continuation of the patent infringement and may also ask the court for an award of damages because of the patent infringement. In such an infringement suit, the defendant may raise the question of the validity of the patent, which is then decided by the court. And it happens often that Attorneys who do not always fully understand the patent possibly make the mistake in the way they argue your claims. So is there something that could really avoid such infringements? By all means, there is an end and all companies should look forward to these nuances that could prevent them from getting sued. Since the infringement on many occasions are driven by employees, empowering the employees on all aspects of patent dispute as well as giving them awareness on the latest development is essential. Forming a corporation is an effective way to keep infringement in check. After filing the patent(s) a firm needs to organize its business. This is important since the firm will have to prepare for the inevitable conflicts it will have over patent infringement. Large businesses' strengths are their marketing organizations and their deep pockets. Both give them an advantage over one's firm if they decide to infringe the firm's ideas. So firms should see to it that they neutralize that advantage. Companies should also keep in mind that legal action can be taken against the manufacturer as well as the user of the product that a firm sees as infringing its product, but it can do so only within the time stipulated for validity of a patent according to the law. No unauthorized usage of the product can be termed as a deliberate infringement after the expiry of the patent. Last but not the least, though patents are based upon the principle of strict liability, one must remember that the use of a patent for research purposes is permitted and it does not constitute an infringement. All said, one should also note that it's always better to have patent infringement settlement which many companies adopt these days. With lawsuits piling up, it's always healthy and wise for firms t settle outside court also.

siliconindia