What are the benefits of a patent?

Patent law entitles the patent owner to a monopoly over the use of the invention. This means that as a patent owner you can take legal action against others who use your invention without permission, and can claim damages. A patent is an item of property and like any form of property, the patent can be bought, sold or licensed. As a patent owner, you can sell it to someone who is better able to take commercial advantage of the patent.

Alternatively, you may license the patent. This is a flexible way of exploiting your invention, as you can determine the way someone else can use your invention.

How can a patent help my business?

The intellectual property rights conferred by a patent are invaluable to your business, as it gives you a competitive edge over others. Unless you decide otherwise, you alone will have the exclusive right of use of the patent. In this way you can legally create a monopoly in the market in which you operate.

What is a patent infringement?

The term ‘infringement’ in this context means a person making use of your patent (i.e. your invention, or specific intellectual property also protected within your application) without your permission.

There are two types of infringement, direct and indirect.

Direct infringement includes:

• Making, disposing of, offering to dispose of, using, importing or keeping the product;
• Doing the same thing in relation to a product derived from a patented process;
• Using the process or offering it for use in the UK, when the person concerned does so knowingly, or where in the circumstances it would be obvious to a reasonable person, that such use would be without the consent of the proprietor and would be an infringement of the patent.

Indirect infringement occurs where a person, without the consent of the patent owner, helps another person by providing them with material which is essential to the invention for the purpose of putting the patented invention into effect.

Contact our Patent Lawyer

Patent law is very complex. Our highly specialist patent lawyer provides London quality legal advice at local prices. We can represent patent law throughout the UK, particularly in Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset,  Berkshire and Hampshire. You can meet our patent lawyer in our Salisbury, Andover or Amesbury offices. We also advise businesses on patent law issues in the UK by taking instructions by telephone and e-mail.

For expert advice, contact our Patent Lawyer in our Salisbury office today or by phone on 01722 422300.