Patent Litigationfor High Technology and Life Sciences Companies© 2005 Fenwick & West LLP. All Rights Reserved.About the FirmFenwick & West LLP provides comprehensive legal services to high technology and biotechnology clients of national and international prominence. We have hundreds of attorneys, paralegals, and other legal professionals, as well as a network of correspondent firms in major cities throughout the world. We have offices in Silicon Valley and San Francisco, California.Fenwick & West is committed to providing excellent, cost-effective and practical legal services and solutions that focus on global high technology industries and issues. We believe that technology will continue to drive our national and global economies, and look forward to partnering with our clients to create the products and services that will help build great companies. We differentiate ourselves by having greater depth in our understanding of our clients’ technologies, industry environment and business needs than is typically expected of lawyers.Fenwick & West is a full-service law firm with nationally ranked practice groups coveringn Corporate (emerging growth, financings, securities, mergers & acquisitions)n Intellectual Property (patent, copyright, licensing, trademark)n Litigation (patent and other IP, securities, antitrust, employment and ADR)n Tax (domestic, international tax planning and litigation)Intellectual Property GroupFenwick & West’s Intellectual Property Group offers comprehensive, integrated advice regarding all aspects of the protection and exploitation of intellectual property. From providing sophisticated legal defense in precedent-setting user interface copyright lawsuits to prosecuting complex software patents, and from crafting user distribution arrangements on behalf of high technology companies to implementing penetrating intellectual property audits, our attorney’s technical skills enable the Firm to render sophisticated legal advice.Our OfficesSilicon Valley Center Embarcadero Center West 801 California Street 275 Battery Street Mountain View, CA 94041 San Francisco, CA 94111 Tel: 650.988.8500 Tel: 415.875.2300 Fax: 650.938.5200 Fax: 415.281.1350For more information about Fenwick & West LLP, please visit our Web site at www.fenwick.com. The contents of this publication are not intended, and cannot be considered, as legal advice or opinion.Patent Litigation for High Technology and Life Sciences CompaniesTable of ContentsIntroduction ...................................................................................................................... 1What Is a Patent? ............................................................................................................... 1What Are Patent Claims? ....................................................................................................2What Else Is in a Patent Other than claims? .......................................................................3How Is a Patent Obtained? .................................................................................................3What Strategic Considerations Are Involved in Patent Litigation? .......................................4Where Is a Patent Enforced? ...............................................................................................4Courts ...................................................................................................................4International Trade Commission (ITC) ......................................................................5Reexamination in the PTO .......................................................................................6What Must the Patent Holder Prove? ..................................................................................6Varieties of Infringement ........................................................................................6Foreign Activities That Raise U.S. Infringement Issues .............................................. 7What Can Invalidate a Patent? .......................................................................................... 8The Invention Was Not Patentable ...........................................................................8The Invention Was Not Fully Disclosed .....................................................................8The Application Was Not Timely ..............................................................................9What Makes a Patent Unenforceable? .............................................................................. 10What Are the Remedies for Patent Infringement? ..............................................................11Injunctions ...........................................................................................................11Money Damages ...................................................................................................11Marking ............................................................................................................... 12Treble Damages and Attorneys’ Fees ..................................................................... 12fenwick & west patent litigation for high technology and life sciences companies 1IntroductionThis booklet is designed for those who wish to enforce their patents or who have been accused of infringing another’s patent. It provides an outline of patent law in the United States, and an overview of the procedure of patent cases. The companion booklet, Patent Protection for High Technology and Life Sciences Companies, goes into more depth about how patents are obtained and how patents differ from other forms of intellectual property, such as copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets.What Is a Patent?Patents are often described as limited monopolies. The U.S. government grants the exclusive right to make, use, sell or import an invention, but only for a limited time (usually 20 years from the filing of the patent application). Patents may also be thought of as a contract between the inventor and the U.S. government: in exchange for the disclosure of the invention to the public, the government permits the patent holder to prevent others from benefiting from the invention for a limited period of time. Finally, patents may also be thought of as property, in that the holder of a patent can sell (or “assign”) the patent to others or give them a license to avoid infringing it.No matter how patents are
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