Avoid making offers for sale that can defeat your patent rights

摘要

Aprevious Patent Update (Sept. 2000, P. 16) discussed a lawsuit in which the patent owner accused a competitor of infringement by making an offer for sale embodying the patented invention. While it was ultimately determined that the evidence was insufficient to show that an offer had actually been made, the case demonstrated how close one can come to infringing a patent by engaging in an exchange or transaction that might be considered an offer for sale.