infringement

Infringement of intellectual property rights takes place when a person who is not the owner or licensee of the owner of the intellectual property copies, reproduces, or exercise any of the exclusive rights granted in respect to the intellectual property in question without the license or permission of the rights owner.  Each of the different areas of statutory intellectual property protection in the UK, namely designs, patents, trade marks and copyright law have their own test for infringement that must be strictly satisfied in order for liability to arise, and entitle the owner to damages or account of profits, and an injunction.

Defences may be available to a defendant for infringement in the circumstances, however strict liability applies to all forms of intellectual property rights.  There is no "innocence" defence to intellectual property infringement, although innocence may be taken into account in an assessment of damages for some of the rights.

Usage: The manufacturer, whilst in possession of the patented invention was liable for patent infringement.

Related Words: intellectual property rights; patent infringement; copyright infringement; damages; account of profits; declaration; injunction; interim injunction; fair dealing; trade mark infringement; design infringement; assessment of damages; strict liability; locus standi; exclusive licensee; non-exclusive licensee.