Patent Lawsuits

Civil Lawsuits

Patents are enforced through means of civil lawsuits against the infringers.

For such civil lawsuits, intellectual property attorneys skilled in litigation are needed since the attorneys understand not only the legal processes of court litigation, but also have in-depth knowledge of patents.

Since patent rights are granted to the inventor to give the inventor a period of monopoly rights – thus ensuring that the inventor can take steps against a party that copies, uses, distributes or commercially benefit from the inventions without permission, the inventor has the right to take legal action against an infringer of the rights.

The defendant has a right to challenge the inventor’s rights to the invention or even the validity of a patent.

A court may find the patent to be not valid upon hearing both sides and reviewing the evidence. Prior publication of information, date of application, and the specifications of the invention can all be used in defence.

On the prosecution side, the intellectual property attorney may act to protect the client’s rights to an invention and thus the commercial benefits of the invention.

The litigating attorney will use the rights granted as evidence against the defendant.  Although the Patent Office is the place where patents are registered, in South Africa, the responsibility of ensuring a valid patent lies with the applicant and the attorney of the applicant when filing the application for patent rights. 

Even in cases where all steps have been taken to ensure that the invention is indeed novel, not obvious to someone skilled in the trade, and involving an inventive step, it is still possible to get embroiled in civil lawsuits.

The granting of the patent rights provides the patentee thus an assumption of legitimacy, but it is only through time that this validity can be tested. Whether you are the defendant or the accuser, you will benefit from our expertise in patent civil lawsuits.

Contact us at Smit & Van Wyk for litigation assistance in intellectual property related matters today.