Infringement of someone else's patent

Irrespective of the technical field in which you are active, it is highly likely that you will need to consider other innovators. In that case, you and your competitors must sooner or later take each other's patents into account.

Assessing your situation

Whenever you innovate, it is important to keep up-to-date with patents of other parties. Arnold + Siedsma can carry out an investigation or set up monitoring for a specific technical field. This will let you know about the position of your competitors.

If you are confronted with other patents, it is important to know what the status of the rights of the other party is. A patent may be valid, but it may also have expired or the scope of protection may be restricted.

Legal status: The filed patent application has a legal status; the description of the invention determines the ultimate extent or scope of protection of the patent right.

An infringement assessmentwill tell you whether your product is possibly infringing the rights of other parties.

One way of avoiding each other's legal monopolies is to create a “design around”, a technical solution that carefully steers clear of the relevant patents. To successfully implement a strategy of this type, you must first correctly identify the scope of protection of the patents concerned. Arnold + Siedsma can help you to carry out the necessary investigation.

Opposing a competitor’s patent

Opposition occurs if you contest a competitor’s patent in order to have it restricted or revoked. Arnold + Siedsma patent attorneys can conduct these proceedings on your behalf and in consultation with you.

An opposition is often preceded by asearchto assess the novelty and inventive step of the competitor's patent.

Our lawyers, working together with the patent attorneys, can oppose the competitor's patent through the courts.

Collaborating with competitors

Disputes are often resolved amicably. Here you can count on thelegal support of Arnold + Siedsma. A possible outcome may also be a licence,possibly preceded by licensing negotiations. Arnold + Siedsma lawyers are ready to help you here.

In some cases, both you and your competitor have a patent, and if collaboration is advantageous, this may result in a cross-licence.

Your Arnold + Siedsma specialist may play a key role in the ultimate design of your innovation by advising you on what you should and should not do. Arnold + Siedsma patent attorneys are sometimes also able to make proposals for a different specific design in order to steer clear of a competitor's patent. This ‘design around’ advice can reduce the risk of possible proceedings.