inducement of infringement

Any person who actively induces infringement of a patent is liable as an infringer (see 35 U.S.C. § 271(b) . Inducement of infringement refers to a situation where a person encourages or facilitates another person to directly infringe on a patent . This form of secondary liability for patent infringement is prohibited under 35 U.S.C. § 271(b) .

To establish liability for inducement of infringement, it is necessary to prove that the accused person knew of the patent in question and that their actions would lead to infringement . Circumstantial evidence of intent can be sufficient to establish liability. For example, in the case of DSU Med. Corp. v. JMS Co., Ltd. , the Federal Circuit held that evidence of a defendant's knowledge of the patent, as well as their actions in promoting the infringing product, were sufficient to establish intent to induce infringement.

[Last reviewed in March of 2023 by the Wex Definitions Team ]

Keywords

• Patent; Intellectual property; patent infringement; secondary liability

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