Court Makes it Easier to Prove Patent Infringement By Standards-Compliant Products

In this Emerging Issues commentary, Tom Tuytschaevers, an associate at Sunstein Kann Murphy & Timbers LLP, discusses a recent federal court case, Fujitsu Ltd. v. Netgear Inc., 620 F.3d 1321 (Fed. Cir. 2010). He states that the "decision makes it easier to prove patent infringement where the operation of a product complies with an industry standard." Mr. Tuytschaevers writes:

Excerpt:

"To determine whether a process infringes a patent, one typically compares the steps recited in the patent to the steps performed by the accused process. If each step of the claim has a corresponding step in the accused process, then performing the process infringes the patent."

. . . .

"Establishing a case of contributory infringement requires the patent owner to prove, among other things, that there is direct infringement by someone - for example, that a consumer actually used a product to infringe the patent. Such proof can be difficult and expensive when the direct infringers are the end-users of the product."

"Fortunately, proving such direct infringement just got easier for patents that cover standards-based products, thanks to the Federal Circuit's September ruling in Netgear."

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