Infringement
Definition
The unauthorized making, using, selling, or importing of a product or process that falls within the scope of a valid patent's claimsclaimsThe numbered statements at the end of a patent that legally define what the inventor owns.Read more →. InfringementinfringementMaking, using, selling, or importing a patented invention without permission from the patent holder.Read more → is determined by comparing each element of a patent claimclaimA numbered sentence at the end of a patent that legally defines what the inventor owns. The most important section.Read more → to the accused product or process. If every element is present — literally or under the doctrine of equivalentsdoctrine of equivalentsExtends infringement beyond the literal claim language — if a competitor's product does substantially the same thing in substantially the same way, it can still infringe.Read more → — infringement exists.
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