A patent is an important document issued to the owner of any invention or idea to prevent the invention or idea from being used, produced or reproduced by third parties.
Patent; becomes increasingly important every day. It is an important protection option for smooth technological development. It functions by granting exclusive rights to the inventor. It also contributes to the technological development and commercialization of the invention.
There are several things to know about patents. One of the most important is how to circumvent them.
What is Patent Circumvention?
People or organizations with inventions or ideas often wonder what circumventing patents is. It's been determined that more than three million patent applications are filed worldwide each year. In fact, official institutions state that an average of eight thousand patent applications are filed daily. Furthermore, many of these applications are accepted. In other words, the number of protected patents exceeds millions. In such cases, creating a brand new and original product becomes increasingly difficult. Companies face a significant problem, such as patent barriers, when developing a new product. Facing patent barriers, especially after production is completed, while selling the product in question, can lead to significant financial difficulties.
Any company that produces or sells a product that is already patented faces substantial lawsuits. Therefore, developing solutions to patent barriers becomes essential. Patent bypassing is a viable option to address this issue.
Regardless of whether a company is small, medium, or large, the patent hurdles it faces can only be resolved by experienced attorneys specializing in patents. Furthermore, R&D efforts are also made to address patent hurdles. However, there are times when these two methods fail. In this case, the TRIZ methodology, known as the most effective method for circumventing patents, should be utilized.
TRIZ methodology can be described as an invention-making technology related to the exploitation of patents. In particular, for circumventing patents, assistance should be sought from engineers who are well-versed in TRIZ methodology. For an invention to be applied for, the points of difference with existing inventions should be addressed in the most effective way. TRIZ studies make it possible to circumvent existing patents and break patents. Consequently, circumventing patents can be described as a particularly productive endeavor performed by patent engineers.
Is Patent Circumvention Harmful?
Patent circumvention, if done correctly, is not harmful. It is essential that expert engineers manage the process. All elements that cause infringement must be identified in great detail. None of these elements should be included in the newly designed product. Otherwise, a new patent infringement case will arise. Following legal assessments, the company may be subject to significant compensation.
Advantages of Circumventing a Patent
It's essential for a team embarking on a new product development project to conceptually define the elements and subsystems that will make up the product. However, the state of the art must first be determined to avoid any intellectual property infringement. At this point, the product design team may have identified a patent related to a subsystem they intend to implement in the product. In such cases, the issue of circumventing the patent should be considered.
Patent circumvention can be defined as redesigning the product and producing a new alternative that does not infringe the patent. Patent circumvention, if carried out carefully, is highly advantageous. However, during this process, the new product must not contain the essential elements specified in the patent claim set. In other words, all the infringing elements must be completely replaced. Furthermore, an assessment must be made regarding whether the changed elements infringe the patent presented to the product design team under the doctrine of equivalents. Failure to conduct such an assessment may result in the new product also causing further infringement under the doctrine of equivalents.
The advantages of circumventing a patent are only realized when the process is managed by a skilled patent engineer. The resulting new product can potentially generate substantial revenue from sales of the product, provided it doesn't infringe on any new patents.
Disadvantages of Circumventing a Patent
Patent circumvention may not always yield positive results. If the new product incorporates the essential elements of the patent claim set, a completely new patent infringement will arise. Unless the factors causing the infringement are objectively evaluated, the patent circumvention process will be completely ineffective. Furthermore, if the modified elements are not re-evaluated under the doctrine of equivalents and their potential patent infringement is not determined, there is the possibility of facing a patent infringement issue again.
