QUESTION
How can I determine if a US patent is also protected in Canada?
Asked on Mar 30th, 2011 on Patents - Washington
More details to this question:
1) If a patent has been registered in the US, how can I determine, from the patent doc, if it is protected in Canada? If not, where should I go? 2) Is it possible to patent an incremental add on to a current patent, if this current patent has not claimed what is being considered for add-on?3) If a number of claims are made for a patent, is it considered infringement ONLY if all claims are violated, just 1 claim, or how many?4)
1 ANSWER
Intellectual Property Attorney serving Spokane, WA
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Malhotra Law Firm, PLLC
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1. There is a database called Inpadoc that allows you to search patent family trees and to find corresponding foreign patents. Access is not cheap. Attorneys will usually have access via a commercial service such as Dialog. If you want to search for free, it is possible to search the Canadian patent office records at http://brevets-patents.ic.gc.ca/opic-cipo/cpd/eng/introduction.html You could search based on the inventor name, for example.
2. Yes, if the improvement is not obvious. However, the fact that you obtain a patent does not mean that you do not infringe the underlying patent. It is quite possible that you will need to obtain a license from the original patent owner to be able to manufacture your patented product. If the original patent holder likes your improvement, a cross-license deal may be possible, giving the original patentee the right to use your improvement in exchange for you getting the right to use their patent, though the original patent holder is not obliged to make a deal.
3. If any one claim is infringed, a patent is infringed.
Answered on Apr 01st, 2011 at 8:43 AM