Patent infringement

The question as to whether a patent has been infringed is answered in an infringement assessment. In this assessment, the patent attorney indicates how likely it is that specific designs of a specific product or a specific method fall within the scope of protection of a specific patent.

A party infringes your patent

In the event of an imminent infringement of your patent rights, Arnold & Siedsma can advise you on the steps you can take and can assist you in the process. If, as patent holder, you wish to stop a third party from infringing your patent rights, it is advisable to bring the existence of your patent to the infringer’s attention and to issue a warning that you will enforce your rights. If this has no effect, you can then issue a writ of summons.

Your patent attorney and/or your lawyer can advise you on the likelihood of success, the possible legal actions and possible consequences. This applies to the entire range of legal measures, such as an ex parte injunction, seizure or proceedings on the merits. The unique cooperation within Arnold & Siedsma between experienced patent lawyers and patent attorneys has often achieved great success in the past, at relatively low cost.

You are accused of patent infringement

If your competitor believes that you are infringing one of its patents, this may signify a threat to your business activities. Arnold & Siedsma can assist you in removing the threat quickly and efficiently. The patent attorney, possibly assisted by the lawyer, will investigate, for example, whether an infringement has actually been committed. He will investigate how the grant of patent proceeded and examine any arguments used by both the patent applicant and the patenting body. These arguments may sometimes ensure that a patent must be construed in a restricted manner. A check is also always carried out to ascertain whether the patent is valid, and whether there is any possibility of a total or partial nullification thereof.

A competitor has a conflicting granted patent

If your competitor’s patents are based totally or partially on the same technology, it may be the case that neither of you has complete freedom of action (“freedom to operate”). The situation may arise, for example, in which you infringe a competitor’s patent, but the competitor also infringes one of your patents. You can sometimes resolve this stalemate by granting each other a cross-licence, as a result in which both you and your competitor are allowed to use the patents. Arnold & Siedsma can advise you on conducting negotiations relating to cross-licences and the contractual definition thereof.

You can engage Arnold & Siedsma to determine the patent positions of the competition and the latest developments in your area of work through targeted searches in the patent registers. We can then track these positions and advise you on the scope of patent rights that can be expected.