An important lawsuit is patent enforcement - it is filed by the owner of the patent, against the party who has caused infringement upon the rights of the patent. This kind of lawsuit has two legal remedies. The first one is, the award for monetary damage, where the party who has caused the infringement has to compensate the patent holder for any kind of economic damage happened by the infringement. The second one is regarding injunction, which is an order which is required to stop the activities of infringement. 

One of the common defences in patent enforcement is - if the plaintiff’s patent is invalid. This can be an example of the patent, when it has expired, or the patent was never filed. For this, patent infringement lawsuits are researched extensively.

The moment patent enforcement occurs

According to some major Patent Search Companies in USA , the enforcement-only happens if the plaintiff holds a valid patent. The process of patenting has some stages, and at every stage, the inventor has various rights and all are legal. Also, you may not be able to file an infringement claim if the patent is perfectly secured. The stages are,

The conception: This is the part where the invention is still in the mind of the inventor. In this stage, there is no valid document, records or writing. So, the invention is not at all planned and so it is not patented yet. There is neither any legal protection here. Any kind of enforcement is impossible here.

The documentation:If you take information from a good Patent Drafting Services Company, you will know that this is the stage where the inventor finally has some records about their invention. These documents are signed, have a date and attested by witnesses. At this part, the patent may not have filed, but the documents are proof of legal protection.

Patent-pending: In this part, the patent is filed but is still going through some processes and waiting for its approval. After the submission of the patent application, the inventor has to wait for at least a year until the process is done. Moreover, the invention already has some legal protection at the time they were created. 

The Patent In-Force:For this stage, the patent is issued and still hasn’t expired. At this point, the inventor has the full right to control their invention and can file a lawsuit for the infringement of the patent. If you go to Top Patent Licensing Firms, they will provide you with all the best services regarding patenting.

Expiration:Here, the patent has expired and the owner or the inventor has no rights over it. Furthermore, the inventor can still file a patent enforcement lawsuit if any infringement has occurred, while the patent was active. 

A Patent Expire time

The validity of a patent stays 20 years from the date of filing

Then, 20 years from the date of filing for utility patents

17 years from the date of issue in case of plant patents

14 years from the filing date of design patents.

The patent holder has to be aware of the timeline, as their legal rights depend on various points. As an inventor, if you file a lawsuit early or late, it might have some reverse consequences.