[Green Circle Talks about Cross-border] Can you sue for imitation of a patent that has been invalidated?

Can you sue someone for copying a patent that has been invalidated?

An Appearance Patent is patent protection for the design of a product. When a product's design is protected by a patent, unauthorized copying of the design by others will violate the patent. However, when a patent for a design lapses, is it still possible to sue others for copying? This is a question worth exploring in depth.

In general, an appearance patent is valid for 15 years, which means that after the expiration of the patent term, the design will no longer be protected by the patent. Once the patent expires, it is possible for others to legally copy the design. In other words, after the patent expires, the original patent holder will not be able to sue others for copying.

However, it should be noted that before the expiration of an external patent, if someone carries out imitation of the patent within the patent term, these acts are still infringement of the patent. Therefore, even after the expiration of the patent, the original patent holder can still file a lawsuit against these acts of imitation within the patent term, requesting compensation or stopping the infringing acts.

In addition, although other people can legally imitate the design after the appearance patent expires, it does not mean that all imitation acts are legal. For example, if there are other technical or functional features protected by the patent in addition to the design of the imitation product, the imitation may still violate other patents or copyrights.

Generally speaking, after the expiration of the appearance patent, it is usually legal for others to imitate the appearance design, and the original patent holder cannot initiate litigation against them. However, it needs to be judged according to the specific situation, if the infringement occurred within the validity period of the patent, the original patent holder still has the right to file a lawsuit. In addition, it is necessary to pay attention to the scope of protection of patents or copyrights other than design, so as to avoid being caught in infringement disputes.

We hope that this article can help you better understand the legal issues related to the invalidation of appearance patents and be more cautious in the actual operation.