In: Operations Management
PATENT LAW: True or False.
A patent pending status does not give an inventor the status to sue a copycat for infringement.
Explain.
This statement holds true. A patent pending status does not give an inventor the status to sue a copycat for infringement. You cannot sue anyone for patent infringement until your invention is in patent pending status. However, once the patent is issued, you can sue for damages starting at the date that your patent application was submitted to the USPTO. Inventors were always worried about the fact that there work could be stealed during the period between filing a patent application and having the patent issued. In order to reduce this worry, The American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 (AIPA) granted patent pending infringement protection. The only catch is that inventors must wait to file a lawsuit until the patent issues. As soon as you submit a patent application, you have rights. You can place a patent pending notice on your products. This warns others that they will be sued if they steal your idea if the patent gets issued. You have no rights until you file a patent application. So if you share the idea or product before filing the application, they can steal it without any repercussions. Patent pending status means that the person has submitted the patent application, the invention can stay for a period of one to three years as pending after that it either gets issued or the application is abondoned. If an inventor has a patent pending for an invention and a company begins to use that invention without his permission, the inventor can proceed to get the patent issued and sue the company for patent infringement. Patent damages start to accrue from the date that the application is published 18 months after it is filed.