Letter to Alleged Patent Infringer

Once a patent issues, the patentee has a right to demand that others infringing on the claimed invention stop using, selling, offering for sale, manufacturing and importing the claimed invention into the United States. A patent holder may wish to send a notice letter to a suspected infringer for various reasons, including:

A notice letter provides a practical means for contacting the infringer and beginning a dialogue over licensing or determining how to end the infringement.
2. For product patents, in order to begin the damages clock, the accused infringer must receive actual notice. of the patent holders belief that there is infringement. A notice letter can serve this function.
3. A letter can inform a competitor of the existence of a patent; this knowledge is one factor in a later finding of willful infringement. trigger the accumulation of infringement damages. 35 U.S.C. 287(a).

The purposes of the notice requirement are both to notify the alleged infringer of potential liability if infringement continues and to provide the alleged infringer with sufficient information to contact the patent holder in order to reach an amicable resolution.