QUESTION
If a patent is invalidated in country A but a similar patent exists in country B what are the restrictions for selling products in country B?
Asked on Dec 06th, 2011 on Patents - New York
More details to this question:
If a USA patent is considered valid can you bring in products that were manufactured in another country where the patent was considered unvalid? I''m trying to understand implications for the OLED litigation currently going on where some patents may not be deemed valid in Japan, Korea or other countries. If these patents aren''t valid would companies be able to manufacture and source all OLED products in say, Japan, and then ship to the US? Or would that violate US patent law?
1 ANSWER
Patents restrict what others can do, but the lack of a patent in one country (or jurisdiction, e.g., Europe) cannot give rights to someone in another country. Thus, using your example, the fact OLED products can be legally manufactured in Japan and Korea would not enable those products to be brought into the U.S. if they are covered by a valid U.S. patent.
Answered on Dec 07th, 2011 at 3:53 PM