Is someone infringing on your patent?

How do you find out whether someone is infringing on your patent? Patent law attorneys say that a basic Google search is probably the best form of discovery you have – and the least expensive.

Search engine databases, such as Google, allow you to create daily, weekly or “as-it-happens” email alerts and to search blogs on your patented product idea by providing key search terms. Google has also created its own patent database with over seven million patents online and an RSS feature to see new filings.

However, if this doesn't seem like enough, you can hire an attorney to do it for you – which is what many patent holders do. A patent attorney can take the time required to do complete searches – not only on the internet, but in USPTO other databases as well. Deciding which process, or a combination of the two, works best for you depends upon the complexity of your patent, the time you have to search and your general preference.

Treble damages

Regardless of who discovers the patent infringement, you have a right to recover damages. While damages may be limited when the infringement was unintentional, intentional patent infringement is serious business. Patent holders may be entitled to treble (three times) the damages they might normally recover, as well as attorneys' fees – and damage amounts can be substantial. Here are two very recent examples:

• $1.6 Billion. In June of 2009, a jury found that Abbott Laboratories intentionally infringed upon a Johnson & Johnson patent regarding its TNF Alpha Blocker drug, Remicade. It is thought to be the largest patent infringement verdict in U.S. History.
• $388 Million. In April of 2009, a jury found that Microsoft willfully infringed upon someone's patent regarding a software registration system.

Granted, not all of us are corporate mega-giants, but it shows that intentional patent infringement is taken very seriously and can have grave – and expensive – consequences.