what about them lawsuits ...

[Uncle Pug]

exactly.... why give the main event away for free!

 

[scubasean]

A few other notes: If you fail to enforce your patent, you can lose it. A common method is to file suit, thereby going on record, as soon as you know of an infringement.

I disagree with you. Please cite examples or court cases.

It is trademarks, not patents that must be policed. A patent is often enforceable even if you wait until ten or fifteen years after industry acceptance to file suit.

 

[scubasean]

Sorry - you're right - they are only public after 18 months, not immediately. At that time, the public can request a copy of the application file. This gives a 6-month lead time, as the usual wait is 24 months (and getting longer).

Sorry...In the US, it is after 18 months that you can get a copy of the filed specification, but only if the applicant has failed to file a request for nonpublication, which must generally be filed when the application is filed.

In the US, the patent file itself is private until issuance.

 

[lairdb]

I disagree with you. Please cite examples or court cases.

It is trademarks, not patents that must be policed. A patent is enforceable even if you wait until ten or fifteen years after industry acceptance to file suit.

Well, in re. laches recently, Symbol v. Lemelson is the most interesting thing in a while, but it actually goes to delays in patent prosecution, not defense.

To your question, the circuits and the Supremes would seem to disagree with you.

Adelberg, 921 F.2d at 1270 ("defense of laches bars the recovery of damages for any patent infringement occurring prior to the filing of the lawsuit") is the one that I could lay hands on most quickly that seems to apply directly.

Now, it's not absolute -- C. Auckerman Company v. R.L. Chaides Construction Co., 960 F.2d 1020 (Fed. Cir. 1992), citing Lane & Bodley Co. v. Locke, 150 U.S. 193 tells us that the delay must be unreasonable for the laches defense to be used, but generally in my understanding there is a counterbalancing expectation of duty to remain informed of what's going on in your own field.

--L


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[AzAtty]

Although the equitable doctrine of laches may be invoked to bar recover of some damages in a patent infringement action on the basis that the claim is stale, the doctrine is far from a silver bullet. It is an equitable doctrine whose application depends entirely upon the circumstances, rather than a bar to suit measured in a set number of years (i.e. statute of limitations).

To successfully invoke laches, a defendant must prove that the plaintiff delayed filing suit for (1) an unreasonable and inexcusable length of time after (2) the plaintiff knew or reasonably should have known of its claim against the defendant, and (3) that the delay resulted in material prejudice to the defendant. State Contracting & Engineering Corp. v. Condotte America, Inc. 346 F.3d 1057, 1065 (Fed.Cir. 2003), citing Gasser Chair Co., Inc. v. Infanti Chair Mfg. Corp., 60 F.3d 770, 773 (Fed.Cir.1995). Once those factual premises are established, the court weighs the equities in order to assess whether laches should apply to bar those damages that accrued prior to suit. State Contracting, supra, 346 F.3d at 1065.

That's an important limitation of laches--as applied to patent infringement suits, the doctrine acts to restrict the availability of pre-suit damages. It does not act to bar suit entirely.

Material prejudice may be either economic or evidentiary. State Contracting, supra, 346 F.3d at 1066; C. Auckerman Company v. R.L. Chaides Construction Co., 960 F.2d 1020, 1033 (Fed. Cir. 19921033. Economic prejudice arises when a defendant suffers the loss of monetary investments or incurs damages that likely would have been prevented by earlier suit. Id. A nexus must be shown between the patentee's delay in filing suit and the expenditures; the alleged infringer must change his position "because of and as a result of the delay." Hemstreet v. Computer Entry Sys. Corp., 972 F.2d 1290, 1294 (Fed.Cir.1992); see also Gasser Chair, 60 F.3d at 775 ("We reiterate that a change in the economic position of the infringer during the period of delay must be as a result of the delay; the infringer must prove that the change in economic position would not have occurred had the patentee sued earlier."). The hiring of new employees, modification of equipment, and engagement in sales and marketing activities related to the new cast are damages normally associated with a finding of infringement and do not constitute the type of damages necessary for a finding of economic prejudice. Ecolab, Inc. v. Envirochem, Inc. 264 F.3d 1358 (Fed.Cir. 2001).

 

[nyresq]

to violate the patent, does it have to violate all the specs? or any?
one spec in the patent states
"A lamp assembly according to claim 1, wherein:
said coupling means is a cable with a wet pluggable plug at one end for coupling/uncoupling to/from a battery pack while under water. "

so does that mean if your light is hard wired to the canister its not in violation of this patent?
or does it mean ANY light with a wet plug on the canister is in violation of patent infringment?
does it have to copy a certain percentage of the specs?
any lawyers please jump in on this question.

 

[lairdb]

to violate the patent, does it have to violate all the specs? or any?
one spec in the patent states
"A lamp assembly according to claim 1, wherein:
said coupling means is a cable with a wet pluggable plug at one end for coupling/uncoupling to/from a battery pack while under water. "

so does that mean if your light is hard wired to the canister its not in violation of this patent?
or does it mean ANY light with a wet plug on the canister is in violation of patent infringment?
does it have to copy a certain percentage of the specs?
any lawyers please jump in on this question.

First, don't confuse the claims with the specification (specification *is* a term of art with very... specific... meaning, and refers to the body of text that does not include the claims, IIRC.)

To "violate" (infringe), the infringing device must violate all elements of any claim. (There are some extensions to this, e.g. the Doctrine of Equivalence, but let's start with literal infringement.) To infringe the claim you recite, the infringing device must include *all* elements of the claim, so if it did not have a wet plugable plug at one end, it would not infringe this claim.

Note, however, that this is a "dependent claim", i.e. it incorporates another claim. In order to infringe this claim, the infringing device would have to incorporate all of the elements of this claim, plus all of the elements of claim 1.

There's actually a pretty good discussion of all this, if you're interested in further understanding, at http://www.iusmentis.com/patents/claims/.

 

[gj62]

Lairdb - great link - wish my attorneys had spelled it out so clearly to me!

 

[nyresq]

so then it would seem to me if the light didn't have a wet plug, then it would fall outside of the patent? or am I missing something. I have seen alot of HID lights that are hard wired between the can and the head.

 

[padiscubapro]

so then it would seem to me if the light didn't have a wet plug, then it would fall outside of the patent? or am I missing something. I have seen alot of HID lights that are hard wired between the can and the head.

no thats a dependent claim, adding to the novelty in the event if claim 1 is considered to broad..