Patent Infringement Warning Letter

The usual term of the patent is valid for a period of 20 years from the date of filing the patent. Within this time period, the patent holder is equipped with the right to exclude others from utilizing the invention made by him without obtaining prior license or permission. If someone continues to use the invention without obtaining due permission from the patent owner then he can be sued for patent infringement.

First of all the patent owner must conduct thorough investigations to confirm the authenticity of the information about the infringement. Once it is confirmed that patent infringement has occurred, he must first identify the infringer and the extent of the infringement, and most importantly the location of the infringement operations, in order to catch the infringers red-handed.

Thereafter, it is justified to send a strongly-worded warning letter to the infringer. The wordings of the letter may either hint at a direct threat of filing a suit against the infringer or may be more indirect and pacified in the sense that it simply orders the infringer to discontinue with his infringing operations. In the latter case, the patent holder can order the infringer to immediately cease all forms of the infringement activity, and also surrender all the proceeds of the infringement along with the unspent infringed goods. The patent owner can also direct him to make a public apology for all the apprehension and damage caused to him or his agency.

If a warning letter has no effect in stopping the infringing activities, then the patentee can finally file a preliminary injunction to put a hold on further patent infringement actions.