This was posted by "Walter Weller" <[log in to unmask]>
and edited by moderators to remove excessive quoted material.
---

As a retired patent attorney for a major corporation I can underwrite most
of the factual information Deknow presents.

1.  Someone is granted a patent.

2 .  Someone else infringes it.

3.  The patentee brings suit to enjoin the infringer from continuing to
infringe, and to pay damages for past infringement.

4.  The parties either negotiate (usually for a cash settlement and a
licensing agreement) and/or go to court.

5.  The usual defense against an accustion of infringement is threefold:
    a:  (Non-infringement) What I am doing is not an infringement of your
patented claims.
    b.  (Invalidity) Your damned old patent isn't valid anyway, for various
reasons.
    c.  (Non-enforceability)  Even if it were valid, you are barred from
enforcing it against me (or anyone else) because you got it by fraud on the
Patent Office (this usually             means that you didn't notify the
Office of all the pertinent prior art of which you were or should have been
aware.

The first two defenses are mostly factual, and can be readily argued.  The
third one is often more difficult -- it also opens the question of treble
damages.  Which is why major corporate patent battles involve nine-digit
numbers of dollars.  World-class lawsuits.

I've been there a time or two.

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