patent infringement

The grant of a patent creates a series of exclusive rights in an invention which vest in the proprietor of the patent. Patent is infringed when one of these exclusive rights is exercised by a person without the consent of the proprietor of the patent. An invention for the purposes of the Patents Act is an invention which is defined by the claims set out in the patent.

Accordingly, patent infringement takes place when a person exercises any one of the exclusive rights which falls within the claims without the permission of the proprietor.  As patents may be granted in respect to a product, process or a product produced from a process, whether patent infringement has taken place relies entirely on a proper construction of the claims in the patent in question.

An invention for the purposes of infringement may be (1) a product, (2) a process or (3) a product of a process. A patented product is a product which has been patented, or “a product obtained directly by means of a patented process or to which the process has been applied”.

Usage: The importation of the products amounted to patent infringement of the patented invention.

Related Words: patentable invention; novelty; obviousness; inventive step; industrial application.